















'-'XT' 



■ ■ 



* 1 1 ■ 



* ■ I 'Ml, „,'\* ■ * ■ ... I ■ ■ 



in 



' ^H .'<vi-iV' 




Book Al 



GopigM 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE 

'3 (r (c U 

ITS HISTORY, 

FEOM THE ORGANIZATION OP 

THE FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY 

TO THE ADOPTION OP THE 

LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE, 1851; 

AND THE CONSEQUENT 

INFLUENCE OF THE PROMULGATION OF THAT LAW 

ON THE 

POLITICAL INTEREST OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 1852. 



BY REV. LEBBEUS ARMSTRONG, 

A MEMBER OF THE PIONEER TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATION, IN 1S03, AND AN HON- 
ORARY MEMBER OP THE SONS OF TEMPERANCE, 



NEW TOEK: 
FOWLERS AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS, 

Clinton Hall, 131 Xassah Street. 

Boston, 14-2 Washington- st] 1 Q^Q [London, No. 142 Strand 










Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S52, by 

LEBBEUS AEMSTEONG, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 



N. Y. STEKEOTTPE ASSOCIATION, 

201 William Street, N. Y. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



From Hon. R. H. Walworth, Chancellor of the State of New 
York. 

I have been acquainted with the Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong for 
many years. He was one of the original members of the first Tem- 
perance Society, formed in 1808, and has long been an active and 
efficient laborer in the temperance cause. I have not had leisure 
to examine the manuscript of the Lectures, containing the history 
of the Temperance Reformation, which he proposes to publish ; 
but, from his acquaintance with the subject, I have no doubt of 
the correctness of the facts purporting to be embodied therein, and 
the soundness of the principles advocated ; and that a perusal of 
the publication will be useful as well as interesting to all the 
friends of temperance. 

R. H. WALWORTH. 

Saratoga Springs, Aug. 27th, 1852 



From Edward C. Delavan, Esq., Ballston Centre, N. Y. 
I entirely coincide with Chancellor Walworth, in his opinion of 
the valuable labors of the Rev. L. Armstrong in the temperance 
cause. He has read to me, in part, his work on the Temperance 
Reformation. I understand he is about publishing it. I trust it 
will find its way into every family in the nation. 

EDWARD C. DEL A VAN. 
Ballston Centre, Oct. 8th, 1852. 



iv ee : :— . 

From Hoir. A. Rockies, Judge of Saratoga County, J\f. Y. 
I have known the Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, by reputation, firom 
my earliest recollection, although I was never favored with a per- 
sonal acquaintance with him until quite recently. He is a gentle- 
man of merit and high moral standing. From an examination of a 
previous publication by him, and from his early connection with 
the temperance enterprise, I have no doubt his Lectures on the 

A. BOCKES. 
Saratoga Springs, Aug. 26th, IS: 2 



From How. Wm. Hay, Judge of Saratoga County, JV! Y. 
Having been personally acquainted with the Rev. Lebbeus Arm- 
strong more than fcty years, and recently permitted to hear the 

c::-.:-l:~ .: h: = ::v.::-}r- .:::.:::-. I jheei-iuL'.T s::.:e :h:.: he L;.= 
X-yl :.:_:. :/.". :h.\: :e_.r :. :::.-.:.t:ri: :.l: : . -.:::= — e-vin;; irien.l ::" 
temperance, practicing its requirements and inculcating its pre- 
cepts. Speedy publication of those lectures would undoubtedly 
be very serviceable in the coming contest for enactment of the 

Maine Liquor Law. 

WM. HAY 

Saratoga Spring?. Ax g. 1"; : ;. I f 5 2 . 



From L. B. Potwam, Iff. D. 

I have an acquaintance with the Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, of 
this county, and know him to be one of our most able and efficient 

hv: :rer = ■::" :he ir.r:.: I c:g -:-:•■...:: :e Eei-TGi He — : = :r.e ■::" :he 
v :::e- :/""::: ::: \ : _ _ _:o..:i: :: :_:.-: ' : i v :::::: "~m:::t 
the forming of our first society, in 1808 ; and firom a careful sur- 
vey and perusal of his manuscript history of the cause, would 
most unhesitatingly declare it entitled to the patronage of all 
- ;-h - — .-". e;: : :v: l.:':'. ; e*_:er.:r:se 

L. B. PUTNAM, M.D. 
Sab atoga Springs, Aug. 271ft, 1 ; ' - 



RECOMMENDATIONS V 

From Hon. W. L. F. Warrl*x, Judge of Saratoga County, jY. Y. 

I have been acquainted with the Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, of 
the County of Saratoga, more than a quarter of a century, and 
can bear testimony to his character as a practical temperance 
man, a consistent Christian, and a good citizen. His Lectures on 
the subject of Temperance, which he is engaged in publi^iing, I 
have no doubt will be of great service in advancing the cause he 
advocates. His familiarity with the history of Temperance, and 
his long advocacy of the reform, and ability for the work, well 
qualify him for his present undertaking. 

WM. L. F. WARREN. 

Saratoga Springs, Aug. 26th, 1852. 



From Rev. C. C. Leigh, President of JVew York City Tem- 
perance Alliance. 

This is to certify that I have read the historical reminiscences 
of the temperance reformation, by Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, and 
am of the opinion that it is a book needed by the public, and 
one which will be sought for by all who desire information on 
the History of the Temperance Reformation It abounds also in 
anecdotes and facts, which will make it pleasing as well as profit- 
able to the youth of our country. It should be put in every school 

library. 

CHAS. C. LEIGH. 

New York, Aug, 2±th, 1852. 



From Silas Briggs, Esq., Justice of Peace, Saratoga Co., JY. Y. 

I hereby certify that I have been considerably acquainted with 
the Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong ; that I have known him as an active 
and consistent temperance man ; that I have given some attention 
to the examination of a manuscript which he proposes to publish, 
the historical reminiscences of the temperance reformation of the 
nineteenth century, etc. ; and that I believe said book is calcu- 
lated to promote the Temperance Reform. 

SILAS BRIGGS. 

Saratoga Springs, Aug. 26th, 1852. 



VI RECOMMENDATIONS. 

From Dr. B. J. Clark, the Originator of the first Temperance 
Society. 

I hereby certify that I have been personally acquainted with the 
Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong for the last forty-eight years, and know 
him to have been one of our co-laborers in organizing the Tem- 
perate Society of More&u and Northumberland, in the year A. D. 
1808 ; and that whatever of facts he has related in his Historical 
Reminiscences of the Temperance Reformation, is undoubtedly true. 

Moreatt, Aug. 28th, 1852. B. J. CLARK. 



From R. N. Havens, Esq., President of New York State 
Temperance Alliance. 

It can hardly be necessary to add any thing to the testimony of 
gentlemen so well known for their high attainments and social po- 
sition, but especially for their long and influential connection with 
the Temperance Reform, as Messrs. R. H. Walworth, E. C. Dela- 
van, B. J. Clark, and the others, whose recommendations of Rev. 
Mr. Armstrong's work precede this note. 

The influences of the reformers of our day on the great modern 
vice, Intemperance, are to tell on unborn generations. That future 
ages will search for the records of their doings with an interest 
akin to that which now attaches to the histories of Wicliff, Knox, 
or Luther, there can be no doubt. This, then, is the time to gather 
and collate the documents. So zealous and faithful a collector and 
historian, therefore, as Rev. Mr. Armstrong, is deserving the sup- 
port of the men of his generation. R. N. HAVENS. 

New York, Oct. lSth, 1852. 



From M. M. Berry, Esq., Saratoga, JV*. Y. 
I have not, until recently, been personally acquainted with the 
Rev. Lebbeus Armstrong, but have known him by reputation seve- 
ral years, and I have no doubt that the History of the Temperance 
Reformation, which he proposes to publish, will prove a valuable 
auxiliary to the temperance cause, particularly at this crisis. 

M. M. BERRY 
Saratoga Springs, Aug. 27th, 1852. 



P REF ACE. 



The design of this book is to promote the cause 
of temperance among the present and future gen- 
erations of mankind. The author has written for 
Sabbath-school children — for young gentlemen and 
ladies — for evangelical Christians — for the rich and 
the poor — for the learned and unlearned in city or 
country — for the aged, who are confined to their 
fireside — for all who make, vend, or consume any 
kind of intoxicating liquor as a beverage, or are 
interested, directly or indirectly, in the liquor 
trade — for all Total Abstinence Temperance Soci- 
eties, and their members, of every age, rank, order, 
or sex — and for all, who are on a journey to the 
grave, and must soon leave their possessions to 
survivors in this ever-changing world. 

The following reminiscences will be found to 
contain much pleasing and instructive variety, 
adapted to all who have abandoned the wine cup, 
the haunts of vice, and all intoxicating beverages, 
for cold water. Drunkards, read this — try the ex- 



Vlll PREFACE. 

periment, and you will find it to be a reality, true 
to the life, and conducive to prosperity and hap- 
piness. 

Various eras and epochs were commenced with 
the organization of the First Temperance Society, 
which was considered as a novelty by many, and 
by many others, as a subject of ridicule, in the 
midst of a vast liquor-consuming community. An 
authentic history of the time, place, and circum- 
stances of that organization ; the constitution ; its 
pledge of total abstinence from distilled liquors 
only, with but a partial rejection of wine, and no 
restrictive constitutional article against the use of 
various fermented beverages of common use (the 
best pledge, however, that could then be adopted), 
together with the number and names of the pioneer 
subscribers, will disclose an interesting contrast 
between the infancy of the Temperance Reforma- 
tion, and the present state of its progress. Also, 
an important Report of a member, in accordance 
with a usage of the parent Temperance Society, 
made on the first annual meeting, will be found 
peculiarly interesting, instructive, and worthy of 
permanent remembrance and imitation. 

The various Epochs of the Temperance Reforma- 
tion in its onward progress, will be found particu- 
larly noticed ; each marked with the most eventful 
changes, both prosperous and adverse, from one 
stage to another ; until the most important discovery 



PREFACE. IX 

was made of the great secret, and most effectual 
means of successful warfare against the combined 
powers of Intemperance, for their total overthrow, 
all which is comprised in the plan and adoption of 
the Liquor Law of the State of Maine, the amount 
of which, in a sentence is, To destroy the power of 
the liquor-monopoly craft, which makes and de- 
stroys millions of drunkards, and fills the earth with 
wretchedness and woe ! 

The influence of the promulgation of the Liquor 
Law of Maine on the political interests of the City 
and State of New York, is noticed in a reply to 
the Twelve noted and popular reasons of a Remon- 
strance of citizens of New York city against the 
Law of Maine. Under this head it is shown, that 
the conflicting powers of temperance and intem- 
perance, are formed into lines of political battle 
array, under Banners of Total Abstinence from all 
intoxicating liquors on the one line of political 
demarkation ; and liberty, or license, to manufacture, 
and traffic in, and consume all kinds of intoxica- 
ting liquors, without legal restriction or limitation, 
on the other political line of array; thus fronting, 
face to face, in a war of extermination ; founded 
on the question, shall intoxicating liquors be man- 
ufactured, vended, and consumed under sanction of 
the supreme law of the land ; and all the wretched 
consequences of such a law, amounting to habitual 
drunkeness, debauchery, pauperism, crime, suicide, 



PREFACE. 



murder, premature death, and an intolerable burden 
of taxation loaded upon the industrious, temperate 
portion of the community; all under sanction of 
law, for the sole purpose of protecting and sustain- 
ing a horrid liqttopw-moxopoly craft, to heap up 
wealth in profusion for the endless destruction of 
its abettors, as well as their victims, allured into the 
vortex of ruin I Or, shall the supreme law of the 
sovereign, independent people, under God, be so 
constructed, as to demolish the abominable liquor- 
craft monopoly, for the total and permanent over- 
throw of its power to create and propagate the de- 
structive evils under which our whole land has long 
been groaning under bondage ? In a word, this 
political War of Extermination is founded on the 
question, Shall king alcohol live, or die ? Destroy 
the infernal old murderer, is the declaration of the 
unfurled banners of his sober, fearless, and united 
rxvADERS. Save the good old fellow for the worthy 
deeds he has done, and is doing • for the wealth he 
bestows, and his blessings on those that love him; 
is the virtual inscription of the unfurled banners 
throughout the whole line of his defense. Oh, save 
him ! Destroy him not ; for we tell you, believe it 
or not, he looks good! He smells good! He 
tastes good! He makes its feel good! and he is 
good! Oh, spare him, as good old Agag was 
spared by king Saul. Do spare him for our sake! 
If hs dies, O dear, what will become of us ! 



PREFACE. XI 

The weapons of this warfare are not fire-arms, 
swords, spears, and daggers ; but ballot-boxes, reso- 
lutions, and votes of legislative authority. And 
by such weapons, the sovereign power of intoxica- 
ting liquors must, sooner or later, fall into disuse 
as a customary beverage, and the legalizing power 
of making drunkards must fall into perdition^ even 
if the contest should result in the fulfillment of the 
foretold Great Battle Day of the Lord, in the Bat- 
tle-field of the world's great valley of ar^iaged- 
don ! And, woe be to the inhabitants of the earth, 
while lnte^iperance, "the abomination of desola- 
tion" retains its predominance in the land ! 

This book of historical temperance reminiscences, 
and argumentative deductions in support of the 
principles and progress of the temperance reforma- 
tion, will be concluded with several Moral-suasive 
Addresses, delivered by the author, on various 
occasions ; comprising the First Address delivered 
before the pioneer parent Temperance Society, on 
their first quarterly meeting, verbatim from the 
original MS., together with various temperance 
anecdotes founded on well-authenticated facts, all 
which is hereby dedicated to the Friends of Tem- 
perance in this land, and all other nations of the 
earth. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Eras and Epochs of the Temperance Reformation— Alarm of the First Epcoh by 
the encroachment of an Enemy under Banners of Intemperance and Death — 
Organization of the First Temperance Society — Time, Place, Number, and 
Names of Members, Consti tution, Ple dge, First President, First Address deliv- 
ered before the Society, and by whom — Remarkable Report of a Member of the 
Society on their First Annual Meeting — Deficiency of the Pledge, but was the 
best that could then be obtained — Feebleness and Trials of the little Temper- 
ance Band— Second and Third Epochs, comprising a Period of more than 
Twenty-five Years, marked with extensive and increasing Influence of the 
Temperance Cause, evinced by the Organization of various Town, County, 
State, and National Temperance Societies, comprising both Male and Female 
Members — Total Abstinence American Pledge, adopted at Saratoga Springs, 
A. D. 1836 — The American Pledge of Total Abstinence subsequently adopted 
rvem con by the Parent Society — Addresses on the occasion, and Resolutions 
adopted on Reorganization — Important Question settled — " Who is First and 
Greatest ?" — Answered by an Ancient Rule of Judging Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

Fourth Epoch — Origin of the Washingtonian Band — Their general Temperance 
Character and Usefulness — Dangers to which they are exposed, by which many 
have fallen back into their former habits of Drunkenness, while many others 
have continued firm in their Reformation, and highly ornamental Members of 
Total Abstinence Temperance Societies — Orders of Sons and Daughters of 
Temperance — Rechabites, Cadets, and other Denominations of Temperance 
Reformers, rush to the Temperance Banners of Total Abstinence, and identify 
themselves with the great Temperance Family . 85 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

Fifth Epoch — Origin and Cause of Appeals for Legislative Aid in favor of the 
Liquor Craft, to fortify the Legal Bulwark against Encroachments, by the Pro- 
gress of the Temperance Eeformation — The Example of Appeals is followed by 
Petitions for Legal Aid to favor the Cause of Temperance — Cause for such 
Appeals — Origin and Character of the Liquor Law of the State of Maine — The 
general Community electrified by the promulgation of the Law of Maine, for 
and against it — Hundreds of Thousands Petition for the Maine Law Statute in 
the State of New York — Thousands remonstrate against it, in New York City, 
for Twelve specific Eeasons — Three of the Eemonstrative Eeasons Analyzed 
and Answered Page 52 



CHAPTER IV. 

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Eeasons of Eemonstrance against 
the Statute of the Liquor Law of Maine, in the State of New York, Analyzed 
aild Logically Answered by Appropriate Conclusions 73 



CHAPTER V. 

Tenth Eemonstrative Eeason considered and reduced to a Logical Conclusion — 
Part of the Eleventh Eeason Analyzed— Liquor-Dealers' Plea for King Alcohol — 
Prospective Effects of the Maine Law, if obtained as a Statute of the State of 
New York — Comparative Loss and Gain to the City and State of New York, 
and also to the General Community, if the Liquor Law of Maine should be- 
come the Statute and General Law of Nations , 89 



CHAPTER VI. 

Further Considerations on the comparative Amount of Loss and Gain Estimations, 
at Hazard by the Adoption or Eejection of the Law of Maine, as a Statute of 
the State of New York— Importance of Humiliation and Prayer, in Yiew of 
this General War of Principle, for and against the Cause of Temperance, in 
answer to the Forebodings of the Twelfth Eeason of the Eemonstrancers 
against the Adoption of the Law of Maine, as a Statute of the Empire 
State 105 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER VIL 

Tue First Temperance Address, verbatim from the original Manuscript, de- 
livered August 25, 1808, by the Author of these Eeminiscences, before the first 
known Temperance Society of our land or world, and repeated, by special re- 
quest, before the same Society, at their annual meeting, 1B-13, in the Church, near 
the place of the first organization, at which time the Parent Society reorganized 
on the unanimous adoption of the Total Abstinence American pledge. Page 134 

CHAPTER VIII. 

An Address on Temperance, delivered on the East Line of Ballston, February 
26, 1S33, and repeated the same day, by request, in the Baptist Church in Balls- 
ton Spa, on the Breaking of a Bum-jug by a Revolutionary Soldier 145 

CHAPTER IX. 

Address delivered before the Temperance Society of the town of Malta, Saratoga 
County, Xew Yr.rk, at their Annual Meeting, March S, 1S34 — Anecdote of a 
Drunkard's Boy, from his words, '• I would take the Whisky" 169 

CHAPTER X. 

King Alcohol's Portrait delineated from Head to Foot, Length, Breadth, Weight, 
and Height ; comprising the History of his Parentage, Birth, Life, Exploits^ 
most wonderful Deeds, and the Prospects of his declining Tears. Address, 
delivered before the Malta Town Temperance Society, Jan. 1, 1S41 189 

CHAPTER XI. 

A Sermon, written by the author, A. D. 1S45, in the 70th year of his age, and 
delivered before a Temperance Society in Stillwater, Saratoga County, X. Y., 
and was subsequently published by request 243 

CHAPTER XII. 

Address delivered in the Union House of Worship before the Parent Temperance 
Society of Moreau, on the last Monday of Oct., 1S43, on their Adoption of the 
American Pledge of Total Abstinence from all Intoxicating Liquors ; compris- 
ing the celebrated Anecdote of Little Mary, a child of seven years old (daugh- 
ter of a habitual drunkard), who obtained 151 Subscribers to the Temperance 
Pledge, the last of whom was her Drunken Father 2S3 



XY1 OOHTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Reminiscence of Virtuous Females, and the results of their benevolent Influence; 
selected from the Days of the Mother of Moses, to the Middle of this Nineteenth 
Century, for the Promotion of True Religion and the Temperance Reforma- 
tion Page SOS 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Effects of the Power of Divest: Providential Moral S uabion, in one Neighbor- 
hood, by the Reformation of some Hard Drinkers and Drunkards, and the sudden 
and alarming Death of several other incorrigible Drunkards, personally known 
t<:> the Author, who witnessed the remarkable Results recorded in this Chapter 
Of the Power of Provtdential Moral Suasion in fa\or of Temperance Re- 
form 351 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



TEMPERANCE REFORMATION. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Eras and Epochs of the Temperance Reformation — Alarm of the First Epoch by 
the encroachment of an Enemy under Banners of Intemperance and Death — 
Organization of the First Temperance Society— Time, Place, Number, and 
Names of Members. Constitution, Pledge, First President, First Address deliv- 
ered before the Society, and by whom — Remarkable Report of a Member of the 
Society on their First Annual Meeting — Deficiency of the Pledge, but was the 
best that could then be obtained — Feebleness and Trials of the little Temper- 
ance Band — Second and Third Epochs, comprising a Period of more than 
Twenty-five Years, marked with extensive and increasing Influence of the 
Temperance Cause, evinced by the Organization of various Town, County, 
State, and National Temperance Societies, comprising both Male and Female 
Members — Total Abstinence American Pledge, adopted at Saratoga Springs, 
A. D. 1S3G — The American Pledge of Total Abstinence subsequently adopted 
nem con by the Parent Society — Addresses on the occasion, and Resolutions 
adopted on Reorganization — Important Question settled — " Who is First and 
Greatest?" — Answered by an Ancient Rule of Judging. 

The Temperance Reformation, up to the present time, 
has had its origin and progress under what may be denom- 
inated three eras, comprising five epochs. 

The first era comprised a special alarm, occasioned by 
the approach of a formidable and destructive enemy, and 
measures adopted to arrest his progress. The enemy was 
intemperance, in all its grades and forms. 

The second era produced a more general alarm, and ex- 
tensive combination of effort to extirpate the use of intoxi- 



18 FIRST ALARM. 

eating liquors, as a common beverage, from the land of 
freedom, as an enemy to the peace, interest, happiness, 
and safety of mankind. But the enemy claimed the right 
of inheritance, till, by wiles and stratagems, he intrenched 
himself in the fortification of the license law of the land, 
which he had the audacity to invade. 

The third era, which is noiv pending, comprises the his- 
tory of the commencement and progress of a war of exter- 
mination, to drive the enemy headlong from the land by 
legal power, or abide the degrading consequences of 
stacking arms, and subscribing the capitulating terms of 
vassal submission to the sovereign and destructive reign 
of the powers of intemperance, though millions of human 
beings are degraded, and their souls forever lost by the 
surrender ! 

Reader, pause, and think awhile, till the last sentence 
above is well digested in the mind, and understood in all 
its important signification and tendency ! 

The five epochs, comprised in the foregoing eras, will 
now receive a more particular illustration. 

FIRST ALARM. 

The alarm produced under the first epoch, was made by 
Dr. Billy J. Clark, of Moreau, in the County of Saratoga, 
and State of New York, in the month of March, A. D. 1808. 
The doctor, at that time a young, enterprising physician, 
is entitled to the deserved honor of being the first man on 
earth known to have suggested the idea of organizing a 
Temperance Society, in opposition to the prevailing evils 
of intemperance. He had read something fir om the "pen 



FIRST ALARM, 19 

of Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, on the prevalence of intem- 
perance, and the approaching desolation following in its 
train. Alarmed at the prevailing custom of the region of 
country around him, teeming with lumber in all the towns 
and counties in the vicinity of the ever-rolling Hudson, in 
all which, intoxicating liquors of variety and plenty were 
considered as commodities of necessity for the daily use 
and comfort of all, or almost every family, and indispensa- 
ble for the treatment of friends in social life — alarmed, we 
say, at the prevalence and results of such a custom ! af- 
ter having projected the plan of a Temperance organiza- 
tion, the doctor determined on a visit to his minister, the 
author of these memoirs, who was then the pastor of the 
flourishing Congregational church in the said town of Mor- 
eau. The visit was made on a dark evening, no moon- 
shine, and cloudy. After riding on horseback about three 
miles through deep mud of clay road, in the breaking up 
of winter, the doctor knocked at Iris minister's door, and, 
on entrance, before taking seat in the house, he earnestly 
uttered the following words: u Mr. Armstrong, I have 
come to see you on important business.'"' ' Then lifting up 
both hands, he continued, " We shall all become a commu- 
nity of drunkards in this toivn, unless something is done to 
arrest the progress of intemperance !" 

This alarming address of Dr. Clark (like the grain of 
mustard-seed alluded to of old), contained the seed, the 
origin, the first principle, and the first practical develop- 
ment Of the PROVIDENTIAL TREE OF TEMPERANCE, the root 

of which is found in the revelation of God's eternal pur- 
pose, by the predictions of His prophets thousands of years 



20 FIRST TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATION. 

ago — the trunk of which notv stands on the earth, with its 
top towering up toward heaven, and the fruit of which is 
now blessing all Christendom, and the world, with the 
knowledge of Satan's devices to destroy the Church of 
God, and the method of infinite w T isdom, and divine effi- 
ciency in rearing up a standard, and appointing instrumen- 
talities to defeat the enemy by the annihilation of his flood 
of alcoholic water of death. 

On that ever-memorable and eventful visit of Dr. Clark 
to the house of his minister, after the aforesaid introduc- 
tion, he proceeded to develop his plan of temperance 
organization, which w r as heartily responded to by the pas- 
tor. And, in conformity with co-operating subsequent 
arrangements made at the house of Peter L. Mauny, a 
Temperance Society was organized in a school-house near 
to the door of Dr. B. J. Clark, on the 80th day of April, 
1808, in Moreau, a town in the County of Saratoga, and 
State of New York, bordering on the Hudson river, in the 
vicinity of the villages of Fort Edward, Sandy Hill, and 
Glenn's Falls. The pledge was total abstinence from all 
kinds of distilled liquors, unless required by medical au- 
thority, and also retrenchment of wine, with some excep- 
tions, as may be seen in the Fourth Article of the Consti- 
tution, ratified by the signature of forty-three pioneer male 
subscribers, a transcript of which will be found in these 
memoirs. 

The By-Laws of that Society required annual and 
quarterly meetings of its members, one of whom, by the 
previous appointment of the presiding officer, should de- 
liver an Address on Temperance at each meeting, and 



REMARKABLE REPORT OF A MEMBER. 21 

made provision also for the establishment of a library ; all 
which were observed with unanimity, and a good degree 
of punctuality. Col. Sidney Berry, formerly of the State 
of New Jersey, then ex-judge of the County of Saratoga, 
was elected President of the Society for the first year of 
its existence ; and the author of these reminiscences was 
by him appointed to deliver the first quarterly temperance 
address, the copy of which, verbatim, is preserved in this 
book. 

REMARKABLE REPORT OF A MEMBER. 

On the first annual meeting of the Temperance Society 
aforesaid, members present were required to state the ef- 
fects of said organization on the custom of his household, 
or family to which he belonged. The author of these 
reminiscences was present, and witnessed the following 
report from Captain Isaac B. Payn, an extensive farmer 
and lumber dealer. Addressing the President, he thus 
proceeded : 

" During a series of years past, before signing the tem- 
perance pledge, T have uniformly made it a rule, annually 
to purchase a hogshead of rum for the year's consumption, 
among laborers on the farm, and business of lumber. 
Sometimes, before the year came round, the hogshead 
would be emptied of its contents, and require a few gallons 
more for necessary use. At other times, the year would 
come round and find a few gallons in the hogshead ; so 
that, on an average, a hogshead of rum each year has been 
consumed in my business concerns, to say nothing of the 
wines, cordials, and other liquors consumed by the family, 
their parties, and visiting friends. 



22 CONSTITUTION. 

"After signing the temperance pledge a year ago, in- 
stead of a hogshead, I purchased a five-gallon keg of rum, 
for my whole business concerns, both of farming and lum- 
ber. And my reason for doing this was, because my 
business required a few excellent laborers, not one of 
whose help I could obtain without some liquor. During 
the year past, I have exerted the best influence in my 
power to reduce the quantity of liquor required by them 
to the lowest mark possible. This morning I examined 
my keg of liquor, and, as nearly as I could judge, without 
accurate measurement, the keg was half full. We have 
abandoned all kinds of liquor in the family as a beverage, 
and the difference of the quantity used among laborers the 
year past, has been reduced from a hogshead to the half 
of a five-gallon keg of rum, and my business was never 
better performed, nor to greater satisfaction." 

CONSTITUTION. 

The following is a copy, verbatim, of the Constitution of 
the First Temperance Organization, with the forty- three 
names of the subscribers, as it was subsequently abridged 
and revised by a committee of publication, for the purpose 
of promulgating the facts relating to the temperance re- 
form thus far, of which committee the author of this work 
was one, who was especially favored with encouragement, 
and presents for the Temperance Society, by a highly es- 
teemed correspondent of the City of New York, by the 
name of John Murray, who subsequently was enrolled 
among the pioneers of the Moreau and Northumberland 
Temperance Society, as an honorary member, as was also 



CONSTITUTION. 23 

Dr. Benjamin Kush, of Philadelphia. It is believed that 
not more than one fifth of the pioneer members are now 
living to see A. D. 1852. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE TEMPERANCE SOCIETY OF MOREAU AND 
NORTHUMBERLAND. 

" I own myself a friend to the laying down rules to ourselves of this sort, and 
rigidly abiding by them. They may be exclaimed against as stiff, but they are 
often salutary. The stricter the rule is, the more tenacious we grow of it ; and 
many a man will abstain rather than break his rule, who would not easily be 
brought to exercise the same mortification from higher motives. Not to mention, 
that when our rule is once known, we are provided with an answer to every im- 
portunity." — Paley's Elem. Mob. akd Pol. Philosophy, p. 315. 

Art. I. This Society shall be known by the name of the Tem- 
perate Society of Moreau and Northumberland. 

Art. II. The last Monday in October, at 10 o'clock, A.M., shall 
forever hereafter be the time of annual meeting, and for the elec- 
tion of all officers, at such place as shall be appointed at the last 
annual meeting. 

Art. III. The officers shall be a President, Vice President, Sec- 
retary, Treasurer, Librarian, Deputy Librarian (who shall act in 
case of the death, removal, or absence of the Librarian), and not 
less than three, nor more than seven Trustees, who shall be chosen 
by ballot. 

Art. IY. No member shall drink rum, gin, whisky, wine, or 
any distilled spirits, or compositions of the same, or any of them, 
except by advice of a physician, or in case of actual disease ; also, 
excepting wine at public dinners, under penalty of twenty-five 
cents ; provided that this article shall not infringe on any religious 
ordinance. 

Sec. 2. No member shall be intoxicated, under penalty of fifty 
cents. 

Sec. 3. No member shall offer any of said liquors to any other 
member, or urge any other person to drink thereof, under penalty 
of twenty -five cents for each offense. 



24 CONSTITUTION. 

Art. V. No tax or taxes shall exceed two dollars in any one 
year. 

Art. VI. Any member, on application to the Society, may be 
discharged, on paying the taxes, fines, and expenses due from such 
member, and the Secretary shall give him a certificate to that effect. 

Art. VII. No member shall be compelled to serve two successive 
years in the same office. 

Art. VIII. The Trustees shall execute any resolution of the 
Society, as to the laying out of their moneys for the purchase of 
books and other purposes. 

Art. IX. The several officers shall deliver to their successors 
all books, money, paper, or other property possessed by them in 
virtue of their offices. 

Art. X. In case of the death, absence, or removal of the Presi- 
dent, then the Vice President shall act in his stead ; and of the 
death, absence, or removal of the Secretary, the Treasurer shall 
act as Secretary, and of the death, absence, or removal of the 
Treasurer, then the Secretary shall act as Treasurer, and each 
until the next election, or an appointment pro tern. 

Art. XI. It shall be the duty of each member to accuse any 
other member of a breach of any regulation contained in article 
IV., and the mode of accusative process and trial shall be regu- 
lated by a by-law. 

Sec. 2. No member shall be expelled, except by the concurrence 
of two thirds of the members present at any meeting. 

Art. XII. Three quarterly meetings shall be holden on the 
last Mondays of January, April, and August, at one P. M., in each 
year, at such place as the Society shall appoint. 

Art. XIII. Any member, or in case of his death, his legal 
representatives, may transfer his share in the stock to any person 
who will become a member, and the property in such share shall 
be deemed to be vested in the purchaser, only from the time of 
such purchaser's subscribing to this Constitution. 

Art. XIV. Any member expelled shall forfeit all his rights 
and privileges in this Society. 



DEFICIENCY OF THE FIRST TEMPERANCE PLEDGE. 25 

Art. XV. The manner of amending this Constitution shall be 
as follows, and not otherwise : any member wishing an amendment 
shall submit it, in writing, to the Trustees, who, if they approve 
thereof, shall deliver it to the Secretary, who shall read it to the 
Society at the next quarterly meeting. The Society shall, there- 
fore, appoint a committee of not less than three nor more than 
five, to consider and report therefor, at the next annual meeting ; 
and if approved by two-thirds of the members of that meeting, the 
same shall then become a part of this Constitution. 

{Adopted last Tuesday of April, 1608.) 

MEMBERS. 

SIDNEY BERRY, ' JESSE BILLINGS, Js., 

JOHN DUMONT, THOMAS THOMPSON 

CHARLES KELLOGG, Jr., BILLY J. CLALiK, 

JOHN BERRY, CYRUS ANDREWS, 

WILLIAM YELSEY, HENRY MARTIN, 

JAMES MOTT, ESEK COWEN, 

JOHN THOMPSON, ASAPH PUTNAM, 

OLIYER BISSEL, Jr., 1CHABOD HAWLEY, 

ABRAHAM P. GREEN, L J. GRISWOLD. 

RUSSEL BURROWS, JESSE WOODRUFF 

ELI YELSEY, LEBBEUS ARMSTRONG, 

GURDON G. SILL, STEPHEN PAYN, 

ISAAC B. PAYN, JOSEPH DE WOLF, 

WILLIAM H. JACOBS, JOSEPH BENJAMIN', 

SQUIRE HERRINGTON, JOHN LE BARNES, 

RODERICK LE BARNES, HORACE LE BARNES, 

EPHRAIM OSBORN, NICHOLAS W; ANGLE, 

WILLIAM ANGLE, Jr., SIMEON BERRY, Jr., 

GARDNER STOW, J. J. SEELEY, 

JOSEPH SILL, ALYARO HAWLEY, 

SAMUEL HINCHE, JAMES CROCKER. 
DAN KELLOGG, 

DEFICIENCY OF THE FIRST TEMPERANCE PLEDGE. 

It is readily admitted that the pledge of the first organ- 
ized temperance society was imperfect, and so is almost 
every other human production, in its incipient stages. 
This conceded fact can not, of course, be a matter of won- 
der, and would not have been even here noticed by way 

3 



26 DEFICIENCY OF THE F.RST TEMPERANCE PLEDGE. 

of apology, were it not for the fact that the author's ears 
have been so often cloyed, and his heart grieved by unfeel- 
ing throes and cants upon the pioneers of the temperance 
reformation, on account of deficiencies in their original 
temperance pledge , representing it as directly calculated to 
"make drunkards, and foster the principles of intemper- 
ance /" The author of these reminiscences hopes to be 
able to convince all who read or hear, that such was not 
the fact. The pioneers of the temperance reformation had 
to contend with their own propensities to evil, and with 
the prejudices, appetites, customs, pride, and interests of 
the whole community around them, who were accustomed 
from infancy to the free use of intoxicating liquors, and were 
urged on to continue their use by innumerable wiles of 
Satan to defeat every contemplated measure of ^reform ! 
Under such circumstances, the restrictions specified in the 
pledge of their adopted Constitution comprised the neplus 
ultra point that could possibly be secured at that time, 
by a temperance organization. 

But let not the imperfect attainment of that auspicious 
event be disparaged as a thing of naught by succeeding 
generations, who have acquired, or may hereafter acquire, 
improvements in the system of reform. The temperance 
reformation, at the commencement, was evidently the 
work of Jehovah. He foresaw the evil, and provided for 
the remedy in His eternal purpose, revealed to man in the 
Book of Divine inspiration. And, although it was like a 
grain of mustard seed in the beginning, yet it was then 
the incipient development of God's predicted plan f r the 
destruction of the curse of intemperance, the most subtle, 



DEFICIENCY OF THE FIRST TEMPEEAXCE PLEDGE. 27 

complicated, and effectual stratagem of Satan to destroy 
the Church of God among the millions of drunkards, who 
would be swept, by the overwhelming flood of intoxica- 
ting liquors, into the oceanic whirlpool of endless perdi- 
tion. 

The temperance reformation, though feeble in its com- 
mencement, began, in the providence of God, just as many 
other important events have commenced, which have 
blessed the world in past ages, and will bless it to the end 
of time. A little cloud, like a man's hand, once seen 
" rising from the sea" was the first token of a plentiful 
rain on the whole land of Israel, after a three-and-an-half- 
year's famine by drought, in the reign of wicked Ahab. 

Time was, when the whole Church of God on earth, 
eight persons in number, were inclosed in an ark of 
"gopher-wood" tossing on the billows of a shoreless ocean! 
At another period the whole Church was found in a patri- 
archal family. Afterward an upper room contained the 
whole company ; and still the Church is God's kingdom, 
and is divinely ordained to people the earth, from the 
rising to the setting sun. 

Time was, when young Joseph was envied, hated, cast 
into a pit to die, taken out, sold a slave, imprisoned on 
false accusation; then, from the depth of that humiliation, 
was raised to honor and fame, and eventually became the 
temporal saviour of his brethren who hated him, and of 
the whole patriarchal household of his father from the im- 
pending desolation of famine and death. 

The whole house and Church of Israel once groaned 
under Egyptian bondage, oppression, and tyrannical in- 



28 DEFICIENCY OF THE FIRST TEMPERANCE PLEDGE. 

ianticide. But time was, when their temporal deliverer 
and lawgiver was an Hebrew infant, under sentence of 
death, concealed in an ark of bulrushes among the flags 
of the Xile ; and, when found by the king's daughter, lay 
helpless aud weeping in his little boat ! Sweet babe — 
safe in danger! bom to be great, good, and eminently 
useful in God's vineyard ! 

The great Redeemer of mankind was once God in- 
carnate ; an infant of poverty in the manger of Bethlehem; 
in manhood was hated to death; but now lives to save 
lost sinners of earth, that the seats in heaven, once vacated 
by apostate angels, may be filled with redeemed saints, the 
purchase of His precious blood; and God have all the 
glory. Hence, evidently, God's eye is upon little things. 
Surely, then, it is His divine prerogative to bring to pass 
great events from small beginnings; and, doubtless, mil- 
lions will forever praise Him in glory, that the temperance 
reformation now pending is one of this class. This stand- 
ard of the Lord's lifting up, is to show forth His power and 
glory by the choice of " weak things of the world to con- 
found the mighty, and things which are despised to bring 
to naught things that are ;" even such things as the woe*, 
and sorrows, and degradation, and crime of a life of 
drunkenness, and all the concomitant curses of intemper- 
ance. 

That little feeble band of temperance brethren, holding 
their quarterly and annual meetings in a country district 
school-house from April, 1808, onward, for several years, 
without the presence of a single female at their temper- 
ance meetings : who were made the song of the drunkard ; 



SECOND AJU) 'THIRD EPOCHS. 29 

who were ridiculed by the scoffs of the intemperate world ; 
undisciplined in arms of even moral-suasive tactics for war- 
fare, and unable of themselves to encounter the Prince of 
Hell, with his legions of instrumentalities, pouring forth the 
alcoholic waters of death as a flood, were, nevertheless, the 
seed of the great temperance reformation, which has al- 
ready poured the blessings of a renovating spirit upon 
millions of mankind ; and which, when consummated by 
the Power that gave it existence, will redeem the Church 
from the curse of intemperance, and make this earth a 
sober world, preparatory to an entrance upon the enjoy- 
ment of the foreordained and foretold blessings of millen- 
nial temperance, peace, unity, prosperity, and consequent 
happiness on earth, in preparation for an eternal state of 
rest and glory in heaven. 

SECOND AND THIRD EPOCHS. 

During these epochs of the temperance reformation, 
comprising a period of about a quarter of a century, the 
temperance cause increased and spread extensively over 
nations and kingdoms of the earth, by the formation of 
town, city-ward, county, state, and national temperance 
societies and associations. And all this increase was 
brought to pass, solely through the blessing of Almighty 
God on the various divinely appointed instrumentalities 
of moral suasion. 

Among the most distinguished events of this period, the 
following are deemed worthy of special notice : The or- 
ganization of the American Temperance Union in Boston, 
A. D. 1826. The organization of the New York State 



30 SECOND AND THIRD EPOCHS. 

Temperance Society, about the same time, principally 
through the influence of the distinguished temperance 
philanthropist, the Honorable Edward Cornelius Delavan, 
a rich, retired merchant, in the city of Albany, who 
gave, even to the State of Maine, the noble example of 
taking from his own cellars, vessels full of the choicest 
wines, in store for family and social beverages, as 
occasion required, and rolling them out into the street 
(amounting in value to several hundred — perhaps to about 
8500), and there conscientiously pouring their contents 
into the "mouth" of mother earth, to be swallowed up in 
a manner described in ancient Divine prophecy, relating 
to a subsequent period of special reformation, to thwart 
«he dragon's device for the destruction of mankind. — [Vicl. 
Rev. xii. 15, 16.] Quere : Was not the venerable Mr. 
E. C. Delavan the first man, known on earth, who poured 
his stock of wines into the mouth of the earth for destruction, 
,'c> save it from the mouths of tvine-bibbers, tvho might quaff 
It to their destruction ? 

Also, the establishment of the Temperance Recorder, a 
state paper, published in Albany, which was admirably 
conducted and devoted to the dissemination of light and 
truth, for the promotion of temperance. 

Other state temperance unions were also organized, and 
temperance papers of various appellations and descrip- 
tions were published, and associations formed throughout 
the nations and islands of Christendom. And what was 
most peculiarly interesting, men of distinguished talents 
for piety, erudition, and science, and others, deeply skilled 
in the knowledge of law and national government, from 



SECOND AND THIRD EPOCHS. 31 

the highest to the lowest gradation, in connection with 
others of the various professional offices, both of church 
and state, all of whom, with apparent parity of feeling, 
enlisted as volunteers under the banners of temperance 
reform, and gave the influence of their membership and 
examples for the promotion of the cause they espoused ; 
and thus continued to do, in the exercise of their various 
powers of moral suasion [the art of persuading], the best 
weapons then known as Battering Rams, to break down 
the walls and strongholds of intemperance fortifications. 
And what was still more encouraging, the ladies in 
thousands — yea tens, hundreds of thousands, even to 
millions — during these epochs, gave their cheerful influence 
to the promotion of the temperance reformation, by their 
attendance on temperance meetings, and liberal donations 
in support of the national reform. And best of all, was 
the adoption of the American pledge of total absti- 
nence from all intoxicating liquors, at the National Con- 
vention of the American Temperance Union, at Saratoga 
Springs, in August, A. D. 1836. This was the triumphant 
cap of the climax of the third epoch of the temperance 
reformation, which gave a new zest to every pulsation of 
the universal system of temperance reform. Joyfully 
and most cordially did the parent temperance society at 
Moreau, at a subsequent period, after a long season of 
declension, call a special meeting of surviving members, 
which was holden at the Union House of Worship in Mo- 
reau, on the last Monday in October, 1843, for the purpose 
of taking the important step in advance, by the unanimous 
voice of the surviving pioneers, and all members in ad- 



82 , SECOND AND THIRD EPOCHS. 

dition, of adopting the American Pledge of Total Absti- 
nence from the use of all intoxicating liquors as a beverage. 
On this occasion their former minister, then residing up- 
ward of thirty miles distant, was sent for tc attend, with 
the special request from Dr. B. J. Clark, that if the manu- 
script of his first temperance address was preserved, he 
should deliver the same original address, verbatim, on 
the occasion. All this was performed in a numerous 
assembly, with the additional amendment, moved in reso- 
lution by Dr. Clark, and voted, nem con, by the assembly 
in the house of worship, that, not only the first address, 
but also the last, in preparation by the former pastor, in 
manuscript, entitled " Woes of Intemperance," should 
be delivered on the occasion, without intermission ; both 
of which occupied but little more than an hour, and were 
followed by the unanimous vote of the Parent Temperance 
Society, reorganized on the adoption of the Pledge of 
Total Abstinence from all intoxicating beverages. 

The following is a transcript of resolutions passed at 
that meeting, recorded thus in amendment of their original 
constitution : 

" On motion of Dr. B. J. Clark, resolved, that the constitution 
adopted April, 1808, be amended by adopting the ' pledge of total 
abstinence from all that can intoxicate.' 

" Resolved, that the subscribers to this constitution hereby 
pledge themselves not to use, traffic in, or furnish intoxicating 
drinks to any in their employ, except as a medicine. 

i: Recorded, by order of the Society. 

M Gurdon G. Sill, President." 

This was considered as a glorious triumph of principle, 
which constituted the whole band of societies in the ranks 



AN IMPORTANT QUESTION SETTLED. 33 

of temperance on a par of union with each other, still in 
advance upon the enemy, with no other weapons of war- 
fare than moral suasion, wielded by such providential in- 
strumentalities as were found clad in temperance armor. 
Addresses were increasingly argumentative and numerous. 
Juvenile temperance societies were formed. Their ban- 
ners were unfurled, and processions often displayed ; all 
which, under the influence of moral suasion, brought thou- 
sands, old and young, rich and poor, male and female, into 
the ranks of total abstinence temperance societies. 

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION SETTLED. 

About this time, a variety of questions arose, doubtless 
from aspirants after popularity, akin to questions anciently 
proposed among a few men, once called fishermen, who 
wished to know, and made the inquiry, " Who among 
them was the greatest?" Very important question! So 
temperance questions once arose, when, and zvhere, and 
by whom was the first temperance society organized 1 
The first must be the greatest! Surely the first must be 
the greatest! 

None in Africa, Asia, nor even among all the kingdoms 
of Europe claimed the honor. Wonderful ! 

But it came to pass, that a number of the sons of one 
Jonathan, expert players of the noted Temperance March 
Yankee Doodle, on almost all kinds of musical instru- 
ments, concluding, doubtless, that the first organized 
temperance society must, of course, be the greatest, 
hence, earnest claims were accordingly made. 

But Mr. Delavan, then chairman of the Publishing Com- 



34 AN IMPORTANT QUESTION SETTLED, 

mittee of the New York State Temperance Society, in Al- 
bany, after thorough investigation, decided, and so an 
nounced in the Temperance Recorder and Magazine, that, 
after an ancient example of judging — namely, that a little 
child, in a certain sense, Is'greater than a full grown man 
— so the little band of Temperance brethren in Moreau, 
although least in number and influence in the outset, yet 
were first in organization — for this reason only, that their 
credentials of organization were prior to any others of the 
kind that ever had been produced and authenticated ! 

And thus the great question of greatness was decided. 



CHAPTER II. 

Fourth Epoch — Origin of the Washingtonian Band — Their general Temperance 
character and usefulness — Dangers to which they are exposed, by which many 
have fallen back into their former habits of drunkenness, while many others 
have continued firm in their reformation, and highly ornamental members of 
Total Abstinence Temperance Societies — Orders of Sons and Daughters of 
Temperance — Eechabites, Cadets, and other denominations of Temperance 
Eeformers, rush to the Temperance banners of Total Abstinence, and identify 
themselves with the great Temperance Family. 

This epoch may be considered as commencing a few 
years subsequent to the adoption of the American Tem- 
perance pledge of total abstinence, A. D. 1836. and is 
marked with the existence of events increasingly import- 
ant to the cause of Temperance. The following are among 
the most interesting events of this epoch : 

First, The providential reinforcement of the Washing- 
tonian Band of Reformers, which originated in Baltimore, 
in the month of April, 1840, more than four years after the 
adoption of the American Temperance pledge of total ah- 
stinence from all intoxicating liquors, at Saratoga Springs, 
A. D. 1836. This recruit resulted in the reformation of 
thousands of hopeless drunkards, who have nobly joined 
the Temperance ranks, and exerted a salutary influence 
throughout the length and breadth of America and other 
nations of the earth. Their number in the outset was but 
six, and these were of the most hopeless class. A Divine 
Providence brought them together. They organized on a 



36 WASHINGTtXNlAN RECRUITS. 

total abstinence pledge, worded to suit themselves, under the 
appellation of Reformed Drunkards. And not a few, 
but many of the thousands who have joined Temperance 
Societies, under their appellative banners, have proved 
to be among the most zealous, untiring, eloquent, and 
effective Temperance Lecturers, who have wielded the 
sword of moral suasion with almost resistless power and 
unparalleled success in bearing down heavily upon the 
ranks of the fell destroyer, King Alcohol, and all his hosts 
of desolation. (Drunkards ! set down your glass, and be 
men, sober men, happy men !) 

Discarding the principle and every appearance of adula- 
tion, it must be confessed that much honor and praise are 
their just due for the ranks which they have filled, the 
battles they have fought, and the victories they have 
achieved over themselves and others in the promotion of 
the Temperance Reformation during the dozen years last 
past of their existence. One thing, however, is much to 
be lamented, namely, that the license laws of our country 
have furnished means for the apostacy of many once 
promising reformed drunkards back — back again to their 
former and more hopeless habits of drunkenness. They 
were once reformed. Their families were restored to use- 
fulness and happiness. Peace and joy graced their do- 
mestic hearth. But, alas ! our license laws provide places 
of temptation. Enticers lie in wait for these men. The 
liquor-dealers' alluring arts (akin to the wiles of the arch 
fell destroyer of the bottomless pit) prevail over the appe- 
tite, judgment, and interest, till the poor reformed drunk- 
ard and his family are reduced again into deeper degrada- 



LICENSE LAW TEMPTATIONS. 37 

tion than before. Alas ! how many such have fallen, and 
perished forever by their miserable fall ! 

Lead us not into temptation is the prayer put into the 
mouth of every supplicant at the feet of the Governor of 
the Universe. And this is the prayer of the whole Tem- 
perance family to our State Government, which ought to 
be in accordance with the Divine Government. Remove 
these places of temptation ! Remove them from those 
who are too weak to resist, and from those who are now 
innocent, but may hereafter, by force of habit and example, 
be found too weak to resist the temptation. O that offi- 
cers of Government and all traffickers in alcoholic poison 
would consider, that the price of the lost souls of drunkards 
will be required at their hands ! This demand of remune- 
ration will exceed all the wealth of this globe of earth ! 
No equivalent can be made, or will be accepted, short of 
the priceless souls of the aggressors, whose business, liv- 
ing, and wealth on earth comprise a craft — a liquor-craft 
monopoly — to multiply drunkards for gain — paltry, cash 
gain, at the expense of the destruction of the precious, yet 
lost, and forever miserable souls of drunkards. 

Hence, of this fact all concerned may be assured, that 
the total overthrow of the craft that makes and hoards up 
wealth, at the expense of millions of lost human souls, with 
all the concomitant wretchedness of their destruction, is the. 
inflexible object of the Temperance Reformation, which is 
blessing our land, opposing powers from earth and hell 
combined, to the contrary notwithstanding. 

4 



38 SOXS AXD DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE. 

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE. 

The fourth epoch of the Temperance Reformation has also 
been richly blessed with the accession of thousands, hun- 
dreds of thousands, yea millions, in city and country, of 
the various orders and degrees of Sons, Daughters, Recha- 
bites, Cadets, and other denominations of Temperance, all 
of whom unite in the grand principle of total abstinence 
from all intoxicating liquors. Their unfurled banners, 
their readiness to unite in all practicable measures for the 
extermination of the curse of intemperance from the earth, 
is like the rising of the morning star in the east, proclaim- 
ing, by the luster of its appearance, that the still brighter 
Sun of Millenial righteousness, smd peace, and sobriety, and 
concord, will soon arise, to shed the glory of his divine ef- 
fulgence over nations and kingdoms, for the light, and com- 
fort, and indispensable source of happiness to all human 
temperance beings who shall inhabit this divinely reno- 
vated globe of earth. Such is the bright emblem of the 
superlative blessedness and consummated perfections of 
the pending Temperance Reformation. What can be 
more animating and encouraging in prospect than the 
flocking of the youth of our land, of both sexes, to the 
standard of Total Abstinence Temperance Associations, 
under the voluntary signature of & pledge for their own 
security from destruction by drunkenness? And how de 
lightful is it to see their readiness always to do all in 
their power for the rescue of the fallen, down-trodden in- 
ebriate ; and, also, to prevent all within the compass of 
their power of influence, from being drawn into the vortex 



LIQUOR DEALERS' ALLURING ARTS. 39 

of temptation by the deceptive wiles and allurements of 
the liquor-dealer's craft to get rich by the destruction of 
human souls ! 

The Temperance Reformation, now pending on this 
globe of earth, when fully consummated, will dispel the 
darkness, gloom, wretchedness, sorrows, crimes, and pun- 
ishments, which are created and fostered by intoxicating 
liquors ; and the whole atmosphere of human existence 
will be sweetened into the social improvements and enjoy- 
ments of the ordinary and proper business of life. This 
is to come down from the spirit of grasping after supera- 
bundant wealth, at the expense of millions of lost souls in 
the accumulation; and the loss of as many millions of 
souls more in the prodigal squandering of the dear-bought 
stock of earthly treasures by drunken descendants. For, 
how often does it come to pass that the wealth, which an- 
cestors have accumulated by extortion, oppression, wreck 
of thought in calculations and exertions, to scrape togethei 
in millions of dollars, less or more, even by the liquor 
trade of death to human souls, has proved equally destruct- 
ive, both to the avaricious accumulators and to their prodi- 
gal descendants. The accumulators lost their souls by 
worshiping their ill-gotten gains — their gods of gold and 
earthly treasures — in which they gloried till death. At 
their decease, the work of death to priceless souls com- 
menced a new operation, by the prodigality of drunken 
heirs in squandering their patrimony in the pursuit of idle 
vanities and sumptuous living, which are as destructive to 
souls as downright drunkenness. 

Something more is necessary to human happiness, and 



40 AN IMPORTANT CONTRAST. 

better than all this bustle and vanity, to get, to hoard, and 
to spend, and thus render life a scene of toil for nothing ; 
to spend money for that which is not bread, and labor for 
bubbles in air, gewgaws, which satisfieth not, but to pass 
away life in vanity. All this is destitute of the true econ- 
omy, enjoyment, happiness, and solid pleasures of life to 
which all may attain, if they only knew tvhat only is neces- 
sary, and how and where that chief ingredient of human 
happiness on earth may be found. It is not in wealth, not 
in poverty, not in much labor, toil, nor anxiety, but is sim- 
ply comprised in a divine prescription, namely, " Lay up 
for yourselves treasures in heaven ;" " Godliness with con- 
tentment is great gain ; having the promise of the life 
which now is, and that which is to come ;" " Trust in the 
Lord ; do good.*' Nothing is more true than the fact, that 
the anxieties of life destroy, or proportionably diminish all 
the pleasures of living. Hence, infinite experience in wis- 
dom has prescribed thus, " Be not anxious for your life, 
what you shall eat, drink or wear ; but seek first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness, and all needful things 
shall be added." 

Now, apply this principle of divine instruction to the 
cause of temperance. And, that the contrast may appear 
to better advantage, let the amount of all the benefits and 
happiness that can be derived from the whole craft of 
liquor trade, in the full tide of its prosperity, be summed 
up in preparation for a contrast with temperance employ- 
ments, treasures, and enjoyments. The sum total of all 
the amount of the craft of liquor-making, traffic, and con- 
sumption, is, some get rich, by making their neighbors to 



THE REFORMED DRUNKARD^ EXPERIENCE. 41 

become poor drunkards, with wretched homes and fami- 
lies. And the result of the whole is, the poor, impenitent 
drunkards lose their souls by the gratification of their ap- 
petites ; the liquor-dealers lose their souls by accumulating 
and idolizing their ill-gotten wealth ; and their heirs lose 
their souls by prodigality in idle, intemperate, sumptu- 
ous living. And this is not unfrequently the amount of 
their liquor operations during their day of grace on the 
earth. 

Now, what is the sum total of the amount of temper- 
ance employments, treasures, and enjoyments'? The re- 
formed drunkard's experience will answer the question in 
a few words : " Whereas, I once loved to go to the liquor 
shop, to see and be seen ; to hear and be heard ; to drink 
to drunkenness, at the expense of my earnings, and stagger 
homeward at a late hour of the night to my freezing, starv- 
ing family, and beat my wife, because she had no bread 
for me, and drive my children to the neighbors to beg, till 
the night was spent in wretchedness ! Now, thanks be to 
God, I love to attend diligently to the business of my 
calling, to lay out my earnings for family necessities, and 
to spend my evenings in the social circle of my wife and 
children at home, where we can read, pray, and enjoy the 
daily sweets of life in preparation for our removal to the 
grave and to our Heavenly Father's mansion-house in 
heaven. O what has the God of Temperance done for me !" 

The millions of sons and daughters of temperance, of 
the various orders of their choice, distinguished by their 
unfurled banners of Sons, Daughters, Rechabites, Cadets, 
and every other order named, can all answer in a sentence, 



42 A TRUE TEMPERANCE EXPERIENCE. 

and point out some of the characteristical treasures and 
enjoyments of a life of temperance. Faithful to their 
cause, their testimony would be thus : " We drink no in- 
toxicating liquors, at home or abroad, in any company or 
business, under any circumstances whatever, except as a 
medicine. Total abstinence is our pledge ; to keep it is 
our enjoyment. The labors, privations, restrictions, and 
fulfillments of all the specifications of our respective con- 
stitutions and pledges are confessedly our duties, the per- 
formance of which gives zest to all other enjoyments of 
life. And our increasing desire is to see the temperance 
cause flourish, until the liquor trade and craft are over- 
thrown from the foundation to the top-stone, and this globe 
of earth shall become a sober world." 

The sum of the whole matter, then, is, temperance 
shows what the proper business of life is, and how to per- 
form it. By temperance, the burdens of life are lightened ; 
many of its woes are banished — its proper enjoyments are 
enlivened — and the great object of our existence on earth, 
in preparation for the grave and eternity, through faith 
alone in the Divine Redeemer, in connection with all 
the incumbent duties of true Bible religion, is greatly 
sweetened by total abstinence temperance principles, 
which contribute to the enjoyments of life, instead of load- 
ing it with burdensome drudgery. Such is the experience 
of all true advocates and lovers of the blessed Temper- 
ance Reformation. Hence, temperance proves to be a 
blessing ; intemperance is always a curse. Temperance is 
of God ; intemperance is of Satan. Temperance is essen- 
tial to human happiness ; intemperance fills the earth with 



EXTERMINATING WAS OF PRINCIPLE. 43 

wretchedness. And hence the conflicting principles of 
Temperance and Intemperance have introduced into the 
world a fifth epoch of the Temperance Reformation, which 
has opened and already resulted in a 

POLITICAL, EXTERMINATING WAR OF PRINCIPLE, 

by the introduction of appeals for legal aid in relation to 
the cause of temperance. First, for the continuance and 
improvement of the licence law to promote the liquor 
craft monopoly against alleged or implied encroachments 
and innovations of Total Abstinence Temperance Societies ; 
and, secondly, for legal power to suppress the common use 
of all intoxicating liquors as a beverage, in a manner 
which would inevitably overthrow the liquor craft mo- 
nopoly of accumulating wealth, influence, popularity, 
office, and power to enforce the adoption and execution of 
national laws for the promotion of drunkenness, wretched- 
ness, pauperism, intolerable taxation, multiplicity of crime, 
death, and the destruction of millions of souls of the human 
race. 

The history, cause, and present condition of appeals for 
legal aid in relation to the Temperance Reformation, pro 
and con, will now be analyzed and delineated in accordance 
with principles of total abstinence from all that can intoxi- 
cate human beings to a state of drunkenness and ruin. 

cause of appeal for legal aid against temperance 
encroachments. 

The history of appeals for legal aid in relation to the 
influence of the Temperance Reformation on the general 



44 liquor-dealers' appeals. 

community is vastly important to be well understood, 
both in the cause and effect of such appeals-. 

There are two numerous classes of community, few of 
whom can ever be reached by any power of moral suasion 
to enlist under the banner of temperance, by giving their 
signature to the temperance pledge of total abstinence. 
Manufacturers of intoxicating liquors, and traffickers in the 
various species of alcoholic poisonous beverages, are the 
classes intended by the foregoing allusion. Both of these 
classes are numerous, and complicated in their business. 
Manufacturers of intoxicating liquors comprise all the 
principal employers — manual laborers in every department 
of the various processes of the manufacture of every kind 
of intoxicating liquors, whether by malting, fermentation, 
or distillation ; also the constructors of all kinds of vessels 
to contain the immense variety and quantity of liquors 
manufactured and necessarily required in their use ; and 
also, all who are directly or indirectly interested in the said 
manufacture, by furnishing, at market price, grains of any 
kind, or any other fruits of the earth, or commodities ne- 
cessary for the manufacture of intoxicating liquors of any 
kind whatever. All the above interested classes of com- 
munity must, of course, be enumerated collectively and 
individually in the general class of liquor manufacturers. 

Traffickers in alcoholic liquors comprise the various 
grades of venders and vendees of any kind or description 
of intoxicating liquors, including all who are engaged in 
buying, selling, importing, or exporting, by land or 
water, in vehicles or ships of the ocean, distributing, far or 
near, by wholesale or retail, in large or small quantities, 



LIQUOE-DEALEEs' APPEALS. 45 

for the accommodation of all consumers of intoxicating 
drinks, for whose use all the foregoing agencies are em- 
ployed. These, all combined, constitute one general class 
of traffickers, or liquor-dealers, who are collectively and in- 
dividually, directly or indirectly, interested in the traffic or 
craft of the liquor trade monopoly and business of increas- 
ing wealth, by furnishing the means and facilities of making 
drunkards — of filling the world with woes and wretched- 
ness of every descripton that intoxicating liquors can pro- 
duce, and resulting in the loss of untold millions of human 
souls ! 

It must, hence, be perceived, that ]the two classes thus 
combined in the manufacture and traffic of intoxicating 
liquors, constitute an incalculably numerous portion of 
human beings on this globe of earth. And it can not be 
successfully denied that all these different ranks and orders 
of persons, whether principals, subordinate laborers, or 
contributors in any sense or degree whatever, are engaged 
and interested, in the manufacture and sale of all the vari- 
ous kinds of intoxicating liquors, merely for the sake of 
gain, money-making, to obtain a livelihood for the sup- 
port of themselves and families, and, if possible, to live in 
affluence, splendor, popularity, and prodigality ; or, other- 
wise, to hoard up wealth in thousands or millions of dol 
lars, to be often scattered and wasted in the hands of poor, 
wretched outcasts of drunken descendants, and their besot- 
ted families, when impenitent manufacturers and traffickers 
of alcohol are dead and gone to their final reward of " the 
wages of sin" which is " death" endless death of the soul — 
the priceless soul — lost by making and selling intoxicating 



46 LIQUOR dealers' appeal. 

liquors, to make and kill drunkards, and fill the earth with 
wretchedness and indescribable woes ! 

Nothing is more evident than the fact that the two above 
described classes, namely, manufacturers and traffickers of 
alcoholic liquors, while continuing these pursuits, have 
proved to be inflexibly opposed to all the instrumentalities 
and powers of moral suasion for the promotion of the Tem- 
perance Reformation. And the reason is no less obvious. 
They have considered their rights to be invaded in propor- 
tion to the advancement of the cause of temperance ; be- 
cause, by temperance movements, customers from their 
shops of human destruction have been drawn off in all 
cases of male and female subscriptions to the temperance 
pledge. This fact can not in truth be denied. To secure 
their claims of right to make poison, to traffic in the arti- 
cle, to keep it for sale as a necessary commodity in hotels 
and in all public houses of entertainment, and to deal it 
out in profusion, and treasure up the profit of poisoning 
millions of their fellow-mortals to death, for the sake of 
gain, those classes of numerous poison-makers and vend- 
ers of poison, annoyed by the encroachments of the Tem- 
perance Reformation, have set the example of an appeal 
to legal aid for license and protection in their trade, craft, 
and business of human destruction ! 

And so deep-rooted and wide-spread had the stratagem 
of an infernal enemy become in our land, that there was 
not wanting legislative ingenuity and authority to devise 
and enact a license law, in all respects adapted for the 
security and consequent encouragement of all the com- 
plex branches of business belonging to the manufacture 



LICENSE LAW THE BO^TO OF CONTENTION. 47 

and traffic of the various descriptions of alcoholic liquors, 
which have hitherto degraded and destroyed millions of 
human beings, as it is believed, both body and soul, for 
time and eternity, and is still raging like an overwhelming 
flood for the destruction of untold millions more ! 

Hence, in the struggle of years past, the license law has 
been the bone of contention between the advocates of tem- 
perance on principles of total abstinence, and the advo- 
cates of human right to make, vend, and consume intoxi- 
cating liquors, under sanction of the license law of the land, 
which declares it to be legal to make and sell all the alco- 
holic liquors that consumers require. And it is well 
known that all consumers of alcohol bid defiance fearlessly 
to all the powers of legal restraint to prevent them from 
drinking when, where, what, and as much intoxicating 
liquors as they please, if, by any art or means whatever, 
they can obtain the infatuating beverage. 

Such being the facts, in by-gone years, the advocates of 
total abstinence have plied their battering-rams of moral 
suasion so fiercely against the walls of the license law forti- 
fication, that the Legislature of the Empire State ventured 
to exert their legal suasion so far against the license of the 
sale of intoxicating liquors in public houses of entertain- 
ment, as to enact a law of the State of New York^in A. D. 
1845, that the legal voters of the State (the City and 
County of New York excepted), -at a special election on a 
day of the year, legally appointed, solely for said purpose, 
should determine the question of license or no license in 
each town and city ward in the State (excepting as above), 
by a majority of votes on said election ; and that license, 



48 LEGISLATIVE " NO LICENSE." 

or no license, should accordingly be given to, or withheld 
from, all innkeepers of each town and city ward in the 
State (except as above), during the current year ; and 
that the license law of the State should thenceforward be 
thus decided in each town and city ward as above, by the 
majority of the legal votes of the people. 

This movement began to wear the appearance of assist- 
ance from legal authority, to favor the cause of temper- 
ance. The result of the first election produced an over- 
whelming majority of towns and city wards in the State 
of New York on the 19th of May, A. D. 1846, in which 
the vote of " No License," from the voice of the sovereign 
people, resounded in favor of temperance laws. Thus, with 
much murmuring, the law of " No License" prevailed 
over the majority of the people of the State of New York 
for one year, by the voice of the people, the liquor-dealers 
of New York City and County unmolested, of course! 

Doubtless, in default of duty, on the part of temperance 
legal voters, and by the double diligence of the opposers 
of temperance, the next annual election gave a decided 
less majority of towns and city wards in the State afore- 
said, for "no license" Probably, fearing another trial, 
the result of the next legislative session (instead of 
amending and making the law more perfect, as wise and 
good legislators should have done), was a repeal, instanter, 
of the law of further reference to the majority of votes of 
the sovereign people to determine at the poll of election, 
and thus, by one act of legislative despotism, the temper- 
ance cause was for years thrown on to the background of 
political estimation, covered with the shades of darkness, 



" NO LICENSE LAW REPEALED. -19 

dust, and tilth of political popularity and infidel scorn and 
reproach, as the creature of enthusiastical fanaticism, crip- 
pled, and bound hand and foot, with thongs of ridicule, 
and cooped up in a cage for the show and amusement of 
the multitude of dandies at their drunken festivals. And 
thus the license laiu has since remained in full force and 
virtue as usual in previous years ; resulting in no small 
degree of darkness over the temperance hemisphere of 
earth, and much exulting throughout the ranks of all anti- 
temperance hosts, whose watchword virtually has been, 
" Give us the license law, and we will all become lecturers 
on moral suasion for the downfall of temperance fanaticism, 
and for free toleration to make, vend, and consume any 
productions of earth, into whatever is most palatable for 
human pleasurable consumption, without fears of future 
accountability !" 

But let not the friends of temperance be dismayed. 
The cause of God and humanity is engraven on all the 
banners of the Temperance Reformation. All who con- 
scientiously sign the temperance total abstinence pledge, 
and inviolably adhere to its principles in all companies 
and places, under all the varied circumstances in life, and 
identify themselves, practically, with the temperance ad- 
vocates of progressive reform, may be assured, that the 
cause they have espoused will be divinely protected, and 
be providentially brought to a triumphant consumma- 
tion. 

The conscientious friends of temperance have more to 
fear from disunion among themselves, than from all the 
combined hosts of opposition. The prosperity of every 

5 



SO IMPOETANCE OF >\ 

enterprise depends much on the unk 
" A house divided against itself can no: 
strength, and strength is power. Time was. when a coun- 

ict school-house in Moreau wo 
pledged members «:: uperance organization, known 

then to exist in Christendom or the world. They bel< 
to but one order. They were agreed in the proinotk 
one object. Th s w a s a c - i e n tious ad b 
constitution and by-laws of their <: 
temperance ea was like 

formation. The temperance cause, now, in 
the very same that it was then, namely, a providential 
method of defeating as an for tl'- 

rion of human souls by intoxicating liquc 
/ has come into the earth like a flood, to destroy the 
priceless souls of mankind. The Lord has lift 
standard against the ene:. formation 

is the Lord's standard. Every trae-fa e-mperance 

man or woman who has subscribed the total a 
temperance pledge, is identified, professionally, with the 
L:::~"f ::-::.": e:':V:;oe s:av.o:ird-":'rarers. 

How important, t h hould be al 1 un i 

\ among the millions of male and female member 

total abstinence temperance socie e are numei 

orders, departments, and banners, and still belong 

one great temperan The old members still sur- 

Reehabite 
not, with all their various-worded pledges, banners, ba 
and significant designations of order, comprising millions 
in number, are ne ss branches of one coime 



IMPORTANCE OF TEMPERANCE UNION. 51 

temperance household, and sacredly pledged to maintain 
the unity, peace, and prosperity of the great temperance 
union. God is the great Father of temperance, and all 
members of temperance societies ought to be true Chris- 
tians, 



CHAPTER m. 



D and cause of Appeals for Legislative Aid in favor of the 
Liquor Craft, to fortify the legal bulwark against encroachments, by the pro- 
gress of the Temperance Eeformation — The example of Appeals is followed by 
Pet' to favor the cause of Temperance — Cause for such 

Appeals — Origin and character of the Liquor Law of the State of Maine- 

Ity electrified ' n of the Hhr of Mao 

and against it — Hundreds of thousands Perition for the Maine Law Statute in 
the Stare of New York — Thousands remonstrate against it, in New York City, 
for 7 fie Seasons — Three of the Pwemonstrative Seasons analyzed 

and answered, 



Intemperance is one of the most consummate works 
of Satan for human destruction. The destruction of this 
evil requires that alcoholic liquor, which produces the 
mischief, should, itself, be legally destroyed, as a deadly 
poison — a venomous serpent — a rabid mad clog, spreading 
hydrophobia, distraction, and death — or a wild bull among 
children, raving for their destruction ! In such frightful 
invasions of human life, who would not rush to the en- 
counter, and, with any efficient weapon of death, aim the 
direful blow, and kill the serpent, the dog, the bull, as 
animals under sentence of death by the common law of 
every community of human beings ! Not less dangerous 
to human life is the poison of intoxicating liquors in daily 
use to drunkenness ; and no less under the condemnation 
of destruction by the sentence of the common law of all 
lands on this globe of earth, is the portion of intoxicating 



CERTAIN CURE OF INTEMPERANCE. 53 

poisonous beverages of daily use, which makes drunk- 
ards, and destroys them body and sou]. All intoxicating 
liquors, the destroyers of mankind, must be destroyed, 
except for the necessary use of medicine and mechanical 
purposes. 

This, evidently, is the doctrine and whole amount of 
the celebrated Liquor Law of the State of Maine. A full 
conviction of the deficiency of the best concerted measures, 
the most pungent doctrines, forcible appeals, and alarming 
facts that could be presented by all the combined elo- 
quence and powers of the practical science of moral 
suasion, to move liquor makers and traffickers to abandon 
their lucrative business of human destruction for the sake 
of gain ; yes, a full conviction of all this, and much more, 
induced the Hon. Neal D.ow, mayor of the city of Port- 
land, in the State of Maine, to devise a statute law for the 
effectual arrest, seizure, and destruction of all existing 
alcoholic liquors within the State of Maine (with legal 
exceptions for specified, necessary uses), under special * 
fines and imprisonments, to be secured by bonds of in- 
demnity for the faithful discharge of all legal requirements 
and prohibitions, by officers legally appointed to execute 
the law of exceptions, and total abolition of all intoxicat- 
ing liquors not excepted, but kept for use in the said State 
of Maine. 

The legal practicability of this stringent law of Maine, 
since its legislative enactment, A. D. 1851, during the 
past year (to the composition of these historical reminis- 
cences in February, 1852), as has been authentically certi- 
fied, has been thoroughly tested-; yes, the law of Maine 



54 OPPOSITION TO IT POWERLESS. 

has been thoroughly tested, by an inviolable observance 
of its prohibitions and injunctions, in the face of all at- 
tempts of opposition throughout the whole State. And 
thus it stands, recommended as impregnable, to every 
power of opposition within the bounds of a State govern- 
ment, based on principles of moral virtue and independ- 
ence, compatible with the revealed laws of Heaven, and 
comprised in the law of love to God and man. Mr. 
Dow, himself, has been heard to affirm, in the city of 
New York, that " Opposition to the Liquor Law of Maine 
by citizens of the State was jJowerless." 

This, it is confessed, is a step in advance of any hitherto 
projected plan, for the effectual consummation of the 
Temperance Reform ; and thus recommends itself to all 
good people in every State of the xlmerican Union, and to 
all other nations of the earth, whatever may be their re- 
ligion and government. Irrespective of all relationship 
or adherence to any system of Bible religion or human 
government, the abstemious principles of temperance, in 
their most stringent form of security against drunkenness 
and its deleterious consequences, must be considered as 
indispensable to human purity, prosperity, and happiness, 
even on earth, and no less indispensable to preparation 
for an interminable residence in heaven. 

The facts existing, connected with the legal enactment 
and practical enforcement of the Liquor Law of Maine, 
which have been extensively published, have already pro- 
duced a greater degree of rational excitement in favor of 
the Temperance Reformation, on principles of total absti- 
nence from all intoxicating liquors, than all other move- 



ELECTRICITY OF TRUTH. 55 

merits in compound, since the first epoch of the Temper- 
ance Reformation. Scarcely a person is to be found, male 
or female, rich or poor, from the ripe Sabbath-school 
scholar to the gray -headed sire or matron, that has not sen- 
timentally, if not practically, become identified, either for 
or against the principles and progress of the Temperance 
Reformation. A large portion of the citizens of New 
York, also of the inhabitants of the Empire State, and 
throughout the whole American Union, have become, to a 
greater or less degree, electrified by the power of truth, into 
the belief that the Temperance Reformation is of God, for 
the destruction of the curse of intemperance, and all its 
appendages of woes, degradation, and ruin of the bodies 
and souls of mankind. And it is believed that this pesti- 
lential evil must, and can be driven headlong from earth 
by the civil power of legislation, after the noble and 
pioneer example of the inflexible woodmen of the State of 
Maine, who first planned, next, trusted in God, then plied 
the convincing power of moral suasion, to move the ques- 
tion* forward into their halls of legislation, by the humble 
petitions of independent freemen, praying their legislature 
to give them such a stringent law against the poison of 
all intoxicating beverages (with necessary exceptions), as 
would pour them into the bowels of the earth for their 
utter destruction, to save men's stomachs from alcoholic 
pestilential diseases ! And thus they took hold, held on, 
and never let go, nor ceased the instrumentalities of moral- 
suasory petitional prayers, until their legislature, electrified 
with like convictions of their humble and inflexible pe- 
titioners, answered their prayers by a statute (doubtless 



56 THE LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE. 

recorded with Divine approbation upon the sacred registry 
of heaven), giving to the people the Liquor Law of Maine, 
A. D. 1851, as an example which, when universally fol- 
lowed, will as extensively drive the contagion of drunken- 
ness from human existence. But the " cap of the climax" 
of the law of Maine is, the inviolable sustentation of the 
law by inflexible temperance advocates, who effectually 
resist, even to a punctilio, all attempts of its enemies to 
overthrow it, although their craft has suffered shipwreck 
by the legislative enactment. This sentence, however, 
must not be construed as an insulting triumph of victory 
over the fallen, for it was not so designed, but directly the 
reverse; i. e., as a sentimental fact of the modern Divine 
fulfillment of an ancient revealed purpose of the Supreme 
Euler of the universe, to " destroy the works of the devilP 
And, surely, no greater blessing could come, even upon 
the whole combined monopolizers of the liquor craft, with 
all their fanciful anticipated advantages, than the provi- 
dential total overthrow of their soul-destroying traffic, for 
the salvation of their own souls, and the souls of their 
children, as well as others. No class of mankind will, or 
can, be more benefited by the total annihilation of the 
liquor craft, than those who are most interested in the soul- 
destroying business. 

Hence the whole subject is hereby designed to be un- 
derstood as comprised in the following sentimental theory : 
That the Temperance Reformation of this nineteenth cen- 
tury can be consummated only by a war of extermination. 
The moral evil of intemperance must be exterminated from 
the earth in preparation for the divinely foretold blessings 



WARFARE AGAINST INTEMPERANCE. 57 

of millennial purity, peace, and prosperity, revealed in the 
Bible. The warfare against intemperance is hence to be 
understood to be of God. Its origin was evidently Di- 
vine. Its commencement in the early part of this century, 
was unquestionably under the superintendence of Divine 
Providence. And all its various epochs, to the present 
time, have been signalized by providential interpositions, 
evincing clearly a train of Divinely appointed instru- 
mentalities combining to shed light, and impart increasing 
importance to the work of Divine mercy in the extermi- 
nation of the alcoholic power of intoxication from its 
strongholds for the destruction of mankind. 

And hence it has come to pass, that hundreds of thous- 
ands of petitions from male and female subscribers are 
now [Feb., 1852] before the Legislature of the State of 
New York, praying for the legislative enactment of the 
statute Liquor Law of Maine. Full confidence is re- 
posed, that if obtained, it will be carried into effectual 
execution after the example of Maine. And that liquor 
manufacturers, venders, and consumers, with their wives 
and children, and all connected with their business and cus- 
toms of living, will constitute the principal portion of the 
general community, who would be the most essentially 
benefited by such a law ; notwithstanding they constitute 
at present a vast proportion of the most virulent opposers 
of the Temperance Eeformation. Such is the power of the 
fell destroyer to prevent mortals of the human race from 
a discovery of their danger and remedy, by closing their 
eyes, ears, understandings, and consciences against all the 
instrumentalities and power of moral suasion. 



58 the rumseller's mighty plea ! 

It is no less astonishing than true, that one single plea 
of manufacturers and traffickers in intoxicating liquors, 
proves to be an overmatch, in many instances, for all the 
powers of moral suasion. And it is as evident, that nothing 
but legal power can effectually remove that paralyzing 
plea, which stands, like the impregnable walls of ancient 
Babylon, in bold defiance against all temperance instru- 
mentalities or power to storm the citadel of intemperance, 
or elude its volunteer inmates from their stronghold. 
Now, let all other subjects have a respite till the proposi- 
tion before us be analyzed, illustrated, proved, and con- 
firmed. 

The mightiest of all pleas against the Temperance Ke- 
formation may be summed up in a single or compound 
word, or a single or compound sentence ; either of which, 
by liquor dealers, comprises an amount of more important 
valuation in the plea against the Liquor Law of Maine, 
than all the advantages of. such a law would be, or could 
be, to the State of New York, were it enacted by the 
Legislature and executed by the people as faithfully and 
effectually as the law requires. The plea, in single words, 
is cash, gain, money ; in compound words, self-interest, 
self-love, i. e., selfishness. In a single sentence, thus, The 
passage of the Maine Law will destroy all my business 
plans ; or, The passage of the Maine Law will bring my 
family to beggary. One or two compound sentences will 
furnish the amount of examples. Thus, my craft is to 
manufacture and traffic in various kinds of liquors, by 
wholesale or retail, by exportation or importation, to any 
extent, any place or places, without limitation, and in any 



THE RUMSELLER's PLEA. 59 

such quantities or qualities as may best accord with my 
business calculations, without being confined to time, place, 
quantity, quality, or circumstances. Such is my craft. 

By my craft, I have accumulated real estate, estimated 
at some millions of dollars, for which I pay taxes for the 
support of government, and of the poor in the land. As 
a freeman, I have chosen the city of New York for my 
residence and place of business thus far through life ; am 
now extensively engaged in business ; and my ships of the 
ocean, hotels, various liquor manufactories, houses of en- 
tertainment, and places where I furnish liquors for sale at 
many corners and cellars, every day and night in the week, 
as may easily be seen, and will show that I furnish both 
business and pleasure to hundreds of poor families, and 
perhaps thousands of persons, who are furnished at home 
and abroad with any and all kinds of liquors, through my 
means and instrumentality. 

Now, the sum of the whole matter is, that if the Liquor 
Law of Maine should be enacted by the Legislature, and 
become a statute of the State of New York, my whole 
business calculations would be overthrown — all my de- 
pendents would be beggared, and all customers would be 
reduced to the necessity of quenching their thirst on cold 
water, the very element that beasts of the field and all 
other " inferior animals" make use of to quench their thirst, 
just as though human beings were brutes ! And this is 
not all ; but thousands of others, of less ability to bear 
the loss than myself, would be thrown out of business, and 
their comforts of a social glass would be lost, if the Liquor 
Law of Maine should become a statute of the Empire State. 



60 THIRD REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

Now, that such is the amount of the plea of remon- 
strance against the passage of the Maine law, as a legis- 
lative statute of the State of New York, must be evident 
to all who consider and understand the import of Twelve 
Reasons, which have been respectfully presented to the 
Hon. Legislature of the State, A. D. 1S52, in a remon- 
strance against the petitioned enactment of the law of 
Maine as a statute of the State of New York. We shall 
now attempt to analyze the twelve reasons of the cele- 
brated REMONSTRANCE OF CITIZENS OF NeW YORK. 

THIRD REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The third reason of said remonstrance is founded on the 
assumption of the baseness of the confederate character of 
petitioners to the Legislature of New York, for a law to 
prevent drunkenness. The following extract from their 
third reason is first presented to consideration for the bet- 
ter understanding of the other eleven reasons to sustain the 
remonstrance in question : 

Reason Third. — " We regard the proposed law [Maine 
Law] as the audacious and fanatical project of certain con- 
ventional associations, known as temperance or total absti- 
nence societies. We believe that these societies have justly 
incurred the indignation, and the political resistance and 
hostility of every enlightened freeman of the land, as the in- 
stigators and abettors of a despotic usurpation, more degrad- 
ing to the dignity of a free people, and more atrocious in 
its political character than any which history records" 

Now, it is worthy of special notice, that hundreds of 
thousands, male and female, in the State of New York. 



THIRD REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 61 

in A. D. 1852, have respectfully petitioned the Hon. Legis- 
lature of their State, for the enactment of a law to sup- 
press drunkenness and its woes, comprising evils that are 
drowning our whole country in ruin. And that New York 
city gentlemen, if they all may be so called, to the number 
of ten, twenty, or thirty thousand names of gentlemen, 
with not the name of one female among them, have signed 
a remonstrance to the passage of said law. And yet, 
doubtless, many of those gentlemen have wives, daughters, 
sisters, mothers, and other female" relatives and friends, 
many of whom belong to temperance societies. And, from 
the wretchedness which those females daily witness among 
the gentlemen of their own households or neighborhood, 
resulting from the fumes of intoxicating liquors ; the 
bloated faces which they daily see, the staggering gait 
which they witness, the profane oaths, curses, wrangling, 
clamor, tumults, poverty, children in tatters crying with 
cold or for bread, and thousands of other indescribable 
scenes of the most horrid wretchedness, even among such 
New York city gentlemen, who prefer various kinds of 
intoxicating beverages for common drink, instead of cold 
water, may, for aught any body knows, have prevented 
females from subscribing a remonstance, backed up with 
no less than Twelve Reasons to prevent the enactment of a 
law to suppress drunkenness ! 

Doubtless, among the vast number of " respectable gen- 
tlemen" subscribers to the remonstrance in question, some 
are immensely rich men, and have become so by their tact 
and prosperity in the business of their craft of liquor man- 
ufacture or traffic. But it is very doubtful if not a ten or 



THIRD EEASOX OF KXMOHSTKAJfCK. 

twenty, or an hundred- fold greater number of the gentlemen 
subscribers to the remonstrance in question were not the 
mere political tools of the head men of the liquor-monopoly 
. who were so firmly held under the beck or nod of 
their political masters, that not a drop of their daily alco- 
holic beverages could be obtained for favor, if they proved 
recreant, till the ban was removed by the humiliation of 
political penance, and a return to the politness hat under 
arm : most obadient sarvint, sur. A dhrop or two, 

' PR be content to sarve y^itr ''onor. 
Now, with all deference to the feelings of every honest, 
in subscriber to the remonstrance, got up in 
r York city, against the legislative enactment of the lata 
of Maine, for twelve specific reasons, can the public be ever 
made to believe that there were many of the number of 
subscribers to that remonstrance who were not rich manu- 

:ers, and traffickers, or poor wretched drunken con- 
sumers of intoxicating liquors, or persons directly or indi- 
rectly interested in the prosperity of the abominable liquor- 
craft monopoly, to obtain wealth, popularity, political 
pywer, and influence, to crush and root out the principles 

nperance, to the total failure and overthrow of the 
hated Temperance Reformation, the God and religion of the 
Bible to the contrary, notwithstanding ! But to be more 
plainly uncompromising on this important subject, let the 

appear in all its moral, temperate, and religious bear- 

and the conviction must be irresistible, that intem- 
perance, the prevailing liquor-craft monopoly of wealth, 
ilarity, and power, is sustained by the prevalent anti- 

rrance political economy, at the expense of untold 



FIRST REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 63 

human wretchedness, and the whole combination of re- 
search, perfected by the infidel philosophy of this cele- 
brated " Age of Reason," evinced by youthful irreverence for 
venerable age ; geological reasonings to disprove the authen- 
ticity of Divine revelation ; and human, fanciful communi- 
cation with the spirit world, reduced to a system of unlet- 
tered language, systematically conferred on favorite mesmer- 
atic believers and aspirants after the secrets of the Almighty 
by the professed sensible tokens of spirit knockings, with- 
out the intervening inspiration of a Bible, or the ordinances 
of a Christian Church, or the necessity of a crucified, aton- 
ing, risen, ascended, interceding Saviour, who alone can 
redeem lost sinners from the ruins of the fall in Eden, and 
from the wrath to come ! In all such the ancient Roman 
proverb is verified, i; Quos Deus vult perdere prius de- 
mentaf' — ''Whom God will destroy He gives up to mad- 
ness." Let all opposers of temperance beware, for the 
day of retribution is hastening on, and the Lord's battle- 
day will decide the contest. 

The following analytical expositions and logical deduc- 
tions, founded respectively on the import of the eleven re- 
maining reasons offered to sustain the remonstrance against 
the petitioned adoption of the Liquor Law of Maine, are 
hereby submitted to the consideration of the Hon. Legis- 
lature, remonstrators, and all readers of this book of rem- 
iniscences. 

FIRST REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The first reason entire is as follows : ;; We believe it to 
he our natural, primary, and irrevocable right to use the 
fruits of the earth, whether naturally produced, or artificially 



64 FIRST REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

prepared, both for meat and for drink, at our own personal 
discretion and responsibility" 

Now it is well known that various fruits of the earth, 
both in their natural state or artificial preparation, are 
rank, deadly poisons ; destructive of human life, without 
remedy, if once taken into the stomach, and carried into 
operation by the blood through the system. Night-shade, 
henbane, and stramonium are among the naturals, and 
muriatic acid, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, and alcohol are 
among the artificial poisons. Alcohol is a deadly poison, 
resulting from chemical processes of the decomposition of 
various fruits of the earth, and comprising, when formed, 
oxygen, carbonic acid, and hydrogen, the deadliest of slow 
sure poisons, the virulence of which has been proved by 
the destruction of millions upon millions of human beings, 
by gradual poison unto death, in the habitual, daily prac- 
tice of downright drunkenness. 

This artificial preparation of the fruits of the earth, de- 
composed, and sublimated into the most virulent poison, 
the remonstrators claim as their " right" to use for drink, 
under the specious appellation of "fruits of the earth" 
which, in reasons following, they term " beverages" i. e., 
all kinds of alcoholic liquors, or any kinds of them. [See 
Dictionary definition — "Drink ; liquor to be drunk"] 

From the exorbitant claim set up in the first reason of 
the catalogue of arguments to sustain the remonstrance 
aforesaid, in opposition to the hundreds of thousands of 
petitions for the law of Maine, to consummate the Tem- 
perance Reformation, the following argumentative conclu- 
sions will be found unavoidable,, 



FIRST REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 65 

1. If the above claim of human right to use the fruits 
of the earth (artificially changed, indiscriminately, into alco- 
holic or intoxicating poison), " both for meat and for drink 
at personal discretion and responsibility" if, we say, this 
claim of human "right" is a just and righteous claim, then 
the conclusion is averred to be incontrovertible, namely, 
that all human beings (the remonstrators of course inclu- 
ded), have a just and righteous claim, in contravention of 
all laws, human and Divine, to poison themselves to death, 
" at their own personal discretion and responsibility" by 
drinking any kind and all kinds of intoxicating liquors, 
u accustomed beverages" ad libitum, (at their pleasure!) till 
the awful and degrading work of self-murder, by drunken- 
ness, shall have been accomplished ! 

Again, if the above claim be just and 'righteous, then 
every individual in community has the " natural, primary, 
and irrevocable right" to any part or the who]e, most ex- 
tensive, lucrative, and complicated craft, of making, sell- 
ing, buying, transporting, and importing all kinds of alco- 
holic liquors, both for their own consumption and all other 
liquor-consuming customers, and to be their own customers 
in consuming freely of their own fruits of the earth, " arti- 
ficially prepared for drink" Every rumseller, surely, 
would have the right to be a taster of his own liquors, 
next a tippler of them, next a constant hard drinker, next 
a bloated drunkard, and a loathsome corpse by suicide, in 
a fit of delirium tremens, or some other sudden stroke of 
death, to which all such drunkards must have a " natural, 
primary, and irrevocable right !" 

Thus, in the enjoyment of the " right" which is claimed 



60 SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE 

to sustain the craft of making, selling, buying, and drink- 
ing fruits of the earth manufactured into alcoholic or in- 
toxicating liquors, thousands come to their death by 
drunkenness, inherit the drunkard's grave, leaving house- 
holds in wretchedness, and their exit to some other state 
of existence will be better known and understood at some 
future period, when the records of time shall be proclaimed 
to congregated generations of the earth, that every one 
may receive the reward of the deeds done in the body, 
whether good or evil! Liquor dealers in New York, 
remoyistrators against your own best interests, look at the 
awful lettered portrait of your present and future selves! 

SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

2. The second reason offered to sustain the remonstrance 
against the adoption of the petitioned Liquor Law of 
Maine, as a statute of the Empire State, is comprised in a 
positive declaration of its unconstitutionality on three 
points ; namely, " A usurpation of despotic powers, contra^ 
vention of Federal and State constitutions" and implied 
encroachment " upon natural and indefeasible right." 

The amount of this reason will now be analyzed and 
reduced to a logical deduction. In the opinion of remon- 
strators, the Liquor Law of Maine, if enacted by legisla- 
tive majority, however great, "would be a usurpation of 
despotic powers!" Query. What despotic power of 
absolute monarchy is embodied in the Liquor Law of 
Maine? We answer, none; none but the legislative 
power of a free and independent confederate statute to de- 
stroy the pernicious, soul-destroying craft of liquor manu- 



SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 67 

facture, traffic, and consumption. Under this law, which 
has been enacted by legislative authority, and effectually 
executed by the people of a free State of the American 
Confederation, no man can manufacture alcoholic poison, 
except for necessary uses, for which the law makes pro- 
vision. No man can traffic in the article by selling, buy- 
ing, transporting, importing, keeping on hand, consuming, 
or using, except for necessary purposes, for which the law 
makes provision. No man can find the article to use as 
an " accustomed beverage" for none of the poison is allowed 
by law to exist on the premises of any man in the State, 
except those legally appointed to keep the article for legal 
uses. All existing intoxicating liquors ; not included in 
legal exceptions, are, by law, denounced as contraband 
commodities, under legal sentence of utter destruction. 
And destroyed they are, ipso facto. Consequently, no in- 
habitant of the State of Maine can claim a legal right t® 
make, buy, nor sell, directly nor indirectly, for " customary 
or common drink" any of a the fruits of the earth," after 
having been manufactured into the poison of alcohol. 

And hence the inhabitants of the State of Maine are 
under legal prohibitions to manufacture or traffic in the 
article of intoxicating liquors, on penalty of the destruc- 
tion of the article, if found in their possession ; and also 
the penalty is accompanied with the legal power of fines 
and imprisonments for repeated and aggravated offenses 
by breach of the law. And what is, or may be considered 
of paramount importance, the above described law was 
devised, enacted, and has hitherto been faithfully executed, 
for the express purpose of destroying a wicked, lucrative 



68 SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

craft, the gain of which enriches a portion of the commu- 
nity at the expense of the poverty, degradation, wretched- 
ness, and destruction of millions of others of mankind, 
while, by a strict observance of this law, none of the 
human family will ever be poisoned to death with intoxi- 
cating liquors, nor made wretched by their woes and con- 
comitant evils during life. 

Another point set up in the second remonstrative reason, 
is an alleged contravention of obvious principles and pro- 
visions, both of " Federal and State constitutions." What 
the principles and provisions are which are alleged to be con- 
travened, are not named in the reason. Suppose, then, the 
object intended in the allegation to be the claimed " right" 
to manufacture, traffic in, and consume all kinds of intoxi- 
cating liquors, without legal restraint or molestation ; still 
the contravention alleged is without foundation. The united 
opinion of the Supreme Judges of the United States 
Court has decided this case, that each and every State of the 
American Union, has the undoubted right to enact statutes 
in ail cases like the Law of Maine in question, irrespective 
of any contravention of the Federal Government, or other 
State constitutions. Their words , in answer to an impor- 
tant appeal on the subject in question, were as follows — 

Chief Justice Taney : " Every State may regulate its 
own internal traffic, according to its own judgment, and upon 
its own views of the interest and well-being of its citizens. 
I am not aware that these principles have ever been ques- 
tioned. If any State deems the retail and internal traffic 
in ardent spirits injurious to its citizens, and calculated to 
produce idleness, vice, or debauchery, I see nothing in the 



SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 69 

Constitution of the United States to prevent it from regu- 
lating and restraining the traffic, or from prohibiting it 
altogether, if it thinks proper." 

Mr. Justice McLean : " The acknowledged police power 
of a State extends often to the destruction of property. A 
nuisance may be abated. It is the settled construction of 
every regulation of commerce, that no person can intro- 
duce into a community malignant diseases, or any thing 
which contaminates its morals, or endangers its safety. In- 
dividuals in the enjoyment of their own rights, must be 
careful not to injure the rights of others." 

Mr. Justice Catron : " I admit as inevitable, that if the 
State has the power of restraint by licences to any extent, 
she has the discretionary power to judge of its limit ; and 
may go to the length of prohibiting sales altogether, if such 
be her policy ; and that if this court can not interfere in 
the case before us, neither could we interfere in the ex- 
treme case of entire exclusion." 

Mr. Justice Daniels said, of imports that are " cleared 
of all control of the government," " They are like all other 
property of the citizen, whether owned by the importer 
or his vendee, or may have been purchased by cargo, 
package, bale, piece, or yard, or by hogsheads, casks, or 
bottles. If, then, there was any integrity in the objection 
urged, it should abolish all regulations of retail trade, all 
taxes on whatever may have been imported." In answer- 
ing the argument, that the importer purchases the right 
to sell when he pays duties to government, Mr. Justice 
Daniels continues to say : " No such right is purchased 
by the importer ; he can not purchase from the government 



70 SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

that which it could not insure him — a sale independently 
of the laws and polity of the State." 

And Mr. Justice Grier said : " It is not necessary to 
array the appalling statistics of misery, pauperism, and 
crime, which have their origin in the use or abuse of ardent 
spirits. The police power, which is exclusively in the 
States, is alone competent to the correction of these great 
evils ; and all the measures of restraint or prohibition ne- 
cessary to effect the purpose, are within the scope of that 
authority. All laws for the restraint or punishment of 
crime, lie at the foundation of social existence. They are 
for the protection of life and liberty, and necessarily com- 
'pel all laws on subjects of secondary importance, which 
relate only to property, convenience, or luxury, to recede, 
when they come in contact or collision." 

" For this reason, quarantine laws, which protect pub- 
lic health, compel mere commercial regulations to submit 
to their control. They seize the infected cargo, and cast 
it overboard ! These things are done, not to interfere 
with the regulations of Congress, but because police laws 
for the preservation of health, prevention of crime, and 
protection of the public welfare must, of necessity, have 
full and free operation, according to the exigency that re- 
quires their interference. If a loss of revenue should ac- 
crue to the United States from a diminished consumption 
of ardent spirits, she will be the gainer a thousand fold in 
the health, wealth, and happiness of the people." 

"Thus all the judges of the United States Supreme 
Court reaffirmed and corroborated the decisions of each 
subordinate State court, that the entire control of the sale 



SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 71 

of intoxicating drinks is within the legitimate province of 
the State legislature. And this control is not limited to 
any mere regulations or partial restrictions, but extends 
to the entire prohibition, whenever the legislature of any 
State think such legislation essential to the public wel- 
fare." — Extracts from the New York Comet 

Now, let this legally-settled, constitutional fact, be ap- 
plied to the very existence of the Liquor Statute of Maine, 
by a logical, incontrovertible conclusion, thus : If the con- 
stitutional police laws of each and every State of the 
American Confederate Union, were not intrinsically and 
necessarily sovereign and independent in the uncontrolled 
right of their formation and designed execution, as statutes 
for the preservation of health, prevention of crime, pro- 
motion of public morals, and encouragement of virtue, 
irrespective of any confederate national controlling power ; 
why, then, were not objections made to the enactment of 
the statute Liquor Law of Maine ? That there were no 
such objections made, and legally ratified against the enact- 
ment nor execution of the Liquor Law of Maine, which is 
now in successful operation, is demonstrative proof that 
the alleged remonstrative reason, in this case, is totally 
fallacious, and without foundation. And hence, all alleged 
contravention, or implied encroachment of the remonstra- 
tive claims of the "natural and indefeasable right' ' to 
manufacture and traffic in alcoholic poison, evidently falls 
under the control and condemnation of police statute 
law, to be abandoned as a business liquor-craft monopoly, 
for the accumulation of wealth, at the enormous expense 
and inevitable result of all the concomitant woes, degra- 



72 SECOND SEASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

dation, waste of health, destruction of morals, multipli- 
cation of crime, burdensome taxes for the support of 
pauperism, orphanage, arrests, imprisonments, trials of 
court, execution of criminals worthy of death, and ten 
thousand times ten thousand degrading, time-wasting, 
God-provoking, hell-deserving, soul-destroying fruits of 
Intemperance ! 

The above fallacious claim of " Right" has been fully 
answered in previous arguments, and especially in the 
foregoing united and decisive opinion of the judges of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, agreeing, for incon- 
testible reasons, in one concentrated amount of national au- 
thority, and in substance is so recorded. That each State in 
the American Union has the uncontrolled right to enact its 
own police laws for the preservation of health, prevention 
of crime, and promotion of public morals, according to 
the exigencies and demand of circumstantial occurrences. 
And that such police laws, enacted in statute authority, 
in any State of the Federal Union, are, in the very nature 
and necessity of the circumstantial facts and occurrences 
which gave them existence, to be considered, in all cases, 
in full force and virtue, irrespective and independent of 
any controlling power of existing laws of the General 
Confederation of National Government. Thus the Second 
Reason of the Remonstrance will be dismissed with the 
following remark : That the Three First Reasons of the 
Remonstrance afford incontestably convincing arguments 
in favor of the Maine Law statute, for the abolition of the 
curse of Intemperance ! 



CHAPTEE IV. 

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Reasons of Remonstrance against 
the Statute of the Liquor Law of Maine, in the State of New York, Analyzed 
aiid Logically answered by Appropriate Conclusions. 

FOURTH AND FIFTH REA30NS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The fourth reason of remonstrance against the legis- 
lative enactment of the Liquor Law of Maine, as a statute 
of the Empire State, is in the following words : "Became 
we believe, that the accustomed, beverages of civilized men, 
interdicted and rendered unobtainable by this threatened 
law, are essential to the health and comfort, the social enjoy- 
ment, and the beneficial intercourse of a large number of 
•persons in every community, and who now use them unob- 
jectionably, and worthily for these desirable purposes" 

The fifth reason is as follows : " Because man, as a su- 
perior, social, and moral being, exercising a rational intel- 
ligence and choice as to what is most beneficial and agree- 
able to himself, can no more be confined by restrictive legis- 
lation to the drink of the inferior animals, than to their 
food and clothing ; and requires neither medical nor 
legislative prescriptions for the ordinary preservation of his 
health, and recuperation of his strength, nor the example, 
either of drunkards or reformed drunkards, to protect their 
morals" 

The amount of the above reasons, connectively, will 
7 



74 FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

now be analyzed. By "accustomed beverages" understand 
all kinds of intoxicating liquors, such as rum, brandy, gin, 
whiskey, wine, or by whatever names they may be called. 
Now, if the Liquor Law of Maine — " the threatened law" 
— should become a statute of the State of New York, 
" beverages essential to health, comfort, social enjoyment, 
and beneficial intercourse'''' — "beverages," comprising all 
kinds of intoxicating liquors, " would be interdicted by this 
threatened law, and rendered unobtainable," even by " civil- 
ized man," except only for necessary uses, which the Law 
of Maine specifically designates, and for which the law in 
question makes abundant legal provision. 

Hence, drunkenness and all its attendant woes, sorrows, 
degradation, delirium tremens, self-murder, and all other 
suchlike " healthful comforts, social enjoyments" and sources 
of " the beneficial intercourse of a large number" (doubtless, 
the " beneficial intercourse" of thousands of thousands of 
liquor manufacturers and traffickers, and the destructive 
pleasures of consumers of alcoholic poisonous beverages) 
would all be exterminated by the interdictions of the 
threatened law — the Liquor Law of Maine — if adopted as a 
statute of the Empire State ? What an awful calamity ! 
Let the sober or half-intoxicated reader pause, and think 
of it awhile. 

But there is another important source of consideration 
belonging to the analysis of the above remonstrative 
reasons of respectable citizens of New York. If the law 
of Maine should become a statute of New York, this 
" threatened law" would reduce " man" — yes, " man," the 
most "superior, social, and moral being" of the earth — to the 



FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 75 

degrading necessity of quenching his thirst with cold water, 
the " drink of the inferior animals!'''' — '''cold water" such 
as horses, cows, dogs, cats, and what not, even down to 
rats and mice, drink to quench their thirst ! Oh, how 
abominably degrading must be the " drink" of Maine Law 
" restrictive legislation" for the " superior, social, moral, 
rational being, man!" Doubtless, there are millions of 
such " superior rational beings" called gentlemen, lovers 
of "fruits of the earth," manufactured into " beverages" for 
their "unobjectionable and worthy use" who would snuff 
at a glass of cold water handed to them in a hotel with as 
much disdain as any species of " inferior animals" from 
the mouse up to the cow, horse, or even the elephant, 
would spurn at the offer of a trough full of any kind of 
intoxicating " beverages" offered by any " superior" two- 
legged animal " man," who himself would drink of his own 
free-will offering till he was drunk, and would lie down in 
the trough. Such gentlemen see no need of Maine Law 
"restrictive legislation" to dictate what, when, where, or 
how much they shall drink, nor " the example of reformed 
drunkards to protect their morals" by any stringent laws, 
modeled after the example of the Liquor Law of the State 
of Maine. So say all respectable gentlemen who have 
subscribed their names with their own hands, or caused 
their names to be written by an amanuensis, to the cele- 
brated remonstrance from the Empire City, in opposition 
to the Maine Law statute for the suppression of the cus- 
tomary use of intoxicating liquors, drunkenness, degra- 
dation, and ruin. 

Now, let the above assumed premises, thus analyzed, be 



76 FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS CF REMONSTRANCE. 

logically coupled together with their legitimate conclusions. 
If fruits of the earth, artificially prepared by the chemical 
processes of decomposition, fermentation, and distillation, 
into alcoholic beverages, such as rum, gin, brandy, wines, 
cordials, beer, cider, and all kinds of intoxicating liquors 
as have been thus made, recommended, sold, consumed, 
and stand thus attested from long-accustomed experience, 
proving, without mistake, that the above-described u bev- 
erages have been, and still are essential to health, comfort, 
social enjoyment, and beneficial intercourse of a large num- 
ber of persons in every community, who now use them, un- 
objectionably and worthily for desirable purposes, as superior 
beings, exercising rational intelligence, and need not legis- 
lative prescriptions for the preservation of health, nor re- 
formed drunkards' examples to protect morals" Yes, let it 
be well understood that, if the above premises be true, 
then the logical conclusion is averred to be equally true, 
that all the millions of " superior beings" of the human 
race who have " used their accustomed beverages" till they 
have poisoned themselves to death, by drinking intoxicating 
liquors to habitual drunkenness while they lived, are never- 
theless, of course, all now dead! — dead, and gone to ren- 
der their account for the abuse of their assumed right to 
drink intoxicating poison to drunkenness, and to suicidal 
death " at their own personal discretion and responsibility" 
And, if all this be true, then, also, let a warning voice sound 
the dread alarm ! Those who " now use" such beverages 
would do better to beware of a drunkard's grave, and a 
drunkard's perdition, when deprived forever of all his "ac- 
customed nutritious beverages," containing in their very 



SIXTH KEASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 77 

dregs the poison of alcoholic destruction. This has cast 
millions of self-conceited, self-exalted superior human be- 
ings into a prison, where not even a drop of cold water — 
"drink of the inferior animals" — can be found on the tip 
of a finger to cool a single " tongue," once inflamed on earth 
with the liquid fire of accustomed intoxicating u beverages" 
in preparation for the flames of everlasting torment, where 
" the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched" 

SIXTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

This " reason' against the passage of the Liquor Law of 
Maine, as a statute of the State of New York, is in the 
following words : " We are convinced ', both by observation 
and reflection, that the infatuated total abstinence from 
agreeable, nutritious, and renovating beverages, under con- 
ventional and mitigated obligations, has caused, and is caus- 
ing, a greater sacrifice of health and life than even the intem- 
perate abuse of them" 

Now, in analyzing and disposing of the contents of this 
remonstrative reason {replete with sentiments of vital im- 
portance), without any attempt to admit, or to disprove, 
or even to call in question the verity or the falsity of what 
is affirmed to be true, the sentiments of the author will, 
notwithstanding, be analytically and logically presented 
by showing his opinion. 

Let the reader " mark well" If total abstinence from 
the use of "fruits of the earth" after having been artifi- 
cially manufactured into alcoholic poison, by whatsoever 
appellation that .virulent poison may have been recom- 
mended and customarily swallowed by mankind — whether 



78 SIXTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

the cup of poison may have been denominated " agreeable, 
nutritious, and renovating beverages" such as cordials, 
champaign, port, claret, sherry, wines, beer, cider — or by 
harsher names, such as rum, brandy, gin, whisky, and what 
not ; yet, nevertheless, if " infatuated total abstinence so- 
cieties, and their unmitigated obligations," meaning, doubt- 
less, temperance pledges, of various wordings, pledges not 
softened, lessened, nor altered, but such as are inflexibly 
and perpetually the binding obligations of the members of 
all total abstinence temperance societies, binding themselves 
by their own voluntary signatures to the total abstinence 
temperance pledge, to abstain at all times, in all places, and 
under all circumstances from the customary use of alco- 
holic liquors full of poison. That they will not drink any 
kind of intoxicating, befooling, bewitching, destructive 
liquors, as common or occasional beverages ; but renounce 
their use as the poison of life, the cause of " woes and sor- 
rows, contentions, babblings, wounds without cause," and 
death without hope ! Now, in short, if the above premi- 
ses, thus analyzed, be true, namely, total abstinence from 
all intoxicating liquors " has caused, and is causing, a 
greater sacrifice of health and life than from the intemperate 
abuse of them" then, surely 

THE CONCLUSION IS MOST PROBABLE, 

that all physicians, undertakers, and even poor grave-dig- 
gers, will most assuredly be in favor of the Maine Liquor 
Law, as a statute of the State of New York, for the follow- 
ing reason, namely, the Maine Law, if adopted by the 
legislature of the State of New York as a statute, will 



SIXTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. . 79 

undoubtedly be hailed by the majority of the people as 
the providential and impregnable fortress of temperance 
against intemperance, the curse of all curses, the inviolable 
observance of which will insure, eventually, a victorious 
consummation of the Temperance Reform, and fill the 
earth with sobriety and peace. Total abstinence multiplied 
everywhere throughout the land, state, and world, will, 
of course (if the above premises be true), increase diseases 
and the loss of life to a most frightful degree ! and give abun- 
dance of custom to all worthy physicians and undertakers, 
and even to poor grave-diggers. Their useful, honorable, 
honest, and necessarily sober and important business of 
attending the sick while living under the declining influ- 
ence of total abstinence diseases, and of adorning total 
abstinence corpses with suitable habiliments for the grave, 
and of digging holes in the earth for the Divinely appointed 
deposit of their bodies in the dust, till the trumpet sound 
of the general resurrection, will, doubtless, all be richly 
compensated by the ghastly influence of total abstinence, 
through the prevalence of the pestilential Liquor Law of 
Maine, to suppress drunkenness, by the universal increase 
of disease and death. 

But, alas ! what physician, undertaker, or grave-digger 
will ever be made rich by the total abstinence, and conse- 
quent disease and death, of any subscribers to such a reason 
for the prevention of the Maine Law, even if the poison 
of alcohol, by the most " intemperate use and abuse of it" 
even to perpetual beastly drunkenness should, neverthe- 
less, have no other effect on their impervious stomach, than 
to preserve thenx, perfectly idemnifled, to dwell here on 



80 . SEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE* 

the earth, swimming in alcohol, or swilling it down the 
throat, until the earth and its contents shall be wrapped in 
flames of total dissolution in fulfillment of a Divinely re- 
vealed decree of Omnipotence? Then, most assuredly, 
all the fruits of the earth, manufactured into alcoholic 
" nutritious beverages" of exerv description, will be burnt 
up ! And long lovers of them may find it difficult, very 
difficulty to escape from the dire conflagration ! Drunkards 
may escape the multiform diseases of total abstinence from 
all intoxicating liquors ; but drunkards will not find a place 
of residence nor rest in the kingdom of heaven, for the 
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 

SEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The seventh reason to sustain the remonstrance against 
the adoption of the Liquor Law of Maine as a statute of 
the State of New York, is comprised in the following ex- 
tract : , . 

" But comparatively few persons in any community im- 
moderately and immorally abuse these beverages, out of the 
vast majority who moderately, virtuously, and beneficially 
use them, and because their abuse by the few is no just rea- 
son for their being interdicted to the many" 

This reason will be analyzed and concluded thus : 

If but few, comparatively, poison themselves to death 
by the use of alcoholic beverages, artificially prepared from 
fruits of the earth for drink, made for gain, sold for 
money, and consumed " virtuously and beneficially" by 
u many ;" and all this was true, a fact, and a good reason 
for a plea of justification, because it was their right so to 



EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 81 

do, and no law was needed, nor any just reason existing, 
why any interdictory law should exist to prevent the many 
from their virtuous and beneficial enjoyments, merely be- 
cause a few abused their privileged M right" to destroy their 
own lives by drunkenness ! Then, surely, every person on 
earth, for the same reason that justifies the "few" would 
be justified in the same " abuse of the virtuous and beneficial 
beverages" of all kinds of alcoholic poisonous liquors, even 
to habitual drunkenness, unto suicidal death, in the exercise 
and enjoyment of his "natural right" And if no law is 
needed to prevent the "few" from their natural right to 
drink intoxicating liquors to drunkenness and self-destruc- 
tion, to enrich the " many" no law would be needed, neither 
could any law be justifiably enacted and imposed on the 
many, to prevent their enjoyment of getting drunk when 
they pleased in the " virtuous enjoyment of their natural 
right" to drink the fruits of the earth made into " bever- 
ages" for their virtuous and beneficial use, even should they 
also, though " many" become drunkards by the " abuse" of 
their " beverages" and thus live drunkards, and die drunk- 
ards, in the free and virtuous enjoyment of their natural and 
legal "right" unmolested by fanatical laws ! 

EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The eighth and ninth reasons to sustain the remonstrance 
in question, are next to be considered in connection. The 
amount of these reasons, connectedly, comprises two 
points, namely, that " the abuse" of the various kinds of 
liquors In common use, " is grossly and ridiculously exag- 
gerated as a source tif pauperism and crime, nearly all the 



: _ EIGHTH AND NINTH BBA£ iSfl OF EEMONSTRa: 

evils of society being fanatically ascribed to this cause." 

secondly, u because these beverages are not necessarily 

intoxicating, as is falsely and fanatically assumed by the 

conventional advocates of the proposed law, in the face of com- 

The above reasons may be thus analyzed. From the 
words written and published, there can be no reason to 
believe that the writer was dangerously ill, with a fit of 
total abstinence from beverages made of u fruits of the 
earth artificially prepared" i. €., into all kinds of alcoholic 
liquors, in common use#for " health, comfort, and social 
enjoyment. stood in much fear of disease 

or death by the most " intemperate use? or even the 
'" abuse" of any kinds of alcoholic poisons, u as fanatics" 
call rum, brandy, gin, whiskey, and all other kinds of 
fermented, and distilled liquors, because these 

is falsely and fanatically assumed by conventional advocates 
posed law" t. e., by temperance societies. 
Who else on earth, except people from the State of 
Maine, or i; conventional advocates? such as u Total Absti- 
nence Temperance Societies? advocates of the Liquor Yaw 

I iine, all over the world, and even in the City of N 
York, " the Emporium of the American Union,' 5 where 
such " fanatical advocates of total abstinence 97 are laboring 
night and day to destroy all the social comforts of life ! 
else but such "busy bodies" could have been found, 
under the influence of such a fit of delirium tremens, or 
e other disorder occasioned by total abstinence, as to 
have beer :>ected of being guilty of promulgating 



EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 83 

falsely and fanatically, in the face of common experience 
and observation, that rum, brandy, gin, whisky, and other 
beverages in common use, are intoxicating? Who else 
could have had the audacity to obtrude the pernicious, 
offensive, detestable, fallacious, dastardly, cowardly libel 
upon any of the precious "fruits of the earth, artificially 
prepared, both for meat and for drink, long accustomed bev- 
erages of civilized men, essential to the health, comfort, social 
enjoyment, and beneficial intercourse of a large number of 
persons in every community, who now use the accustomed 
beverages unobjectionably and worthily, for desirable pur- 
poses /" and yet, by " fanatics, falsely reported to be in- 
toxicating /" None, none but members of total abstinence 
temperance societies, advocates for the Liquor Law of 
Maine, could have been found, or would have dared for 
the life of them, to have reported the base, slanderous, 
fanatical falsehood, that any of the " beverages'''' above 
named, long used, and cherished, are " intoxicating /" when 
they are only used as " fruits of the earth, artificially pre- 
pared for drink, at our own personal discretion and respon- 
sibility, and because we believe it to be our natural and 
irrevocable right." That our " long accustomed beverages" 
are intoxicating, is, hence, falsely and fanatically assumed 
by the conventional advocates" of the proposed Maine Law, 
" the audacious and fanatical project of total abstinence tem- 
perance societies !" What ! " nutritious, renovating bever- 
ages" including all kinds of customary liquors, "intoxicat- 
ing ! necessarily intoxicating /" Base, slanderous, fanatical 
falsehood of the advocates of total abstinence temperance 
societies — advocates of total abstinence pledges ; the de- 



84 EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

stroyers of health and of life ! advocates of the Liquor 
Law of Maine to destroy the liberty of our free country, 
which guarantees the "right" of every man to eat and 
drink such "fruits of the earth" as he pleases, u at his own 
'personal discretion and responsibility /" 

Such is the analytical import of two reasons of the re- 
monstrance of thousands of reputed "respectable citizens" 
of New York, in a moral-suasory prayer to the Hon. Leg- 
islature, to turn a deaf ear to all petitions for the adoption 
ot the Liquor Law of Maine, as a statute of the Empire 
State of the American Union. And after having analyzed 
and fully considered the import of these reasons to which 
so many have subscribed, and the danger of encountering 
such a host, by calling in question the veracity of positive 
assumptions on which the eighth and ninth reasons of their 
remonstrance are founded, and also having considered the 
probable temperament of the composer of the remonstrance 
and its sustaining reasons, written in a style sparkling with 
insinuations of vengeance, like a rod from the smith's 
forge, near to which no gunpowder can be placed without 
danger of explosion; thus, all things considered analyti- 
cally, the following logical conclusion is humbly pre- 
sented. 

If it is " right" for a few to poison themselves to death 
by drunkenness in the "abuse" of the various kinds of 
alcoholic liquors, then it is " right" for the "many" even 
all the rest of the community, to do the same thing, and, 
of course, " gross exaggeration" is out of the question. But, 
if it is self-murder for a "few" to drink themselves to 
ieath by drunkenness, in the common, constant use and 



EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 85 

" abuse" of " beverages" such as all kinds of alcoholic 
liquors, and a law can be enacted to destroy the " bever- 
ages" that produce drunkenness unto degradation, pauper- 
ism, crime, and suicidal death, then let the voice of every 
freeman be, " Give us such a law" For, surely, it would 
be worth the experiment of passing a thousand laws like 
the one of Maine, at all the expense of legislation, and 
have them all executed after the example of Maine, if all 
this would prove the effectual means of saving one poor 
drunkard from self-murder and endless perdition ! 

To the positive averment of a mere assumptive proposi- 
tion, that " beverages" [alcoholic liquors of all kinds] " are 
not necessarily intoxicating, as is falsely and fanatically 
assumed by the conventional advocates of the proposed law, 
in the face of common experience and observation! [identical 
words of the ninth reason of the remonstrance in question] 
the following answer is presented as a logical conclusion, 
founded on a positive averment of the existence of known, 
public, incontrovertible facts, which are hereby set forth 
in bold and fearless defiance of the world of mankind, to 
produce a confutation of one particle of the following an- 
swer to the ninth reason set up in the remonstrance of 
New York "gentlemen" against the statute Liquor Law 
of Maine. " Mark well" 

Drunkards do, positively, swallow the accustomed alco- 
holic poisonous "beverages," specifically known, and cus- 
tomarily denominated rum. brandy, gin, whiskey, wine, 
beer, cider, and whatever may be named " strong liquors" 
until intoxication [" the state of being drunk" — Diction- 
ary] often terminates in premature death ; like " men 



86 EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

of blood and deceit," who " shall not live out half their 
days." And as " the years of the wicked shall be short- 
ened" (Vid. Psa. lv. 23, Pro v. x. 27), so, many drunkards 
" live not half their days." Their years are shortened by 
their own suicidal, self-murderous appetite, vehement 
thirst for strong drink, gratified by daily potions of the 
poison of alcoholic "beverages," producing habitual drunk- 
enness unto self-murder, by premature death ! Thousands, 
millions of morning dram-tasters, have thus become daily 
tipplers, hard drinkers, downright drunkards, self-murderers 
in the midst of their days, and their loathsome carcasses 
have been shut out from the light of day, by their inherit- 
ance and possession of the drunkard's grave, where 

The mound that covers them by night, 
Shows where they lie by morning light ; 
With epitaph upon the sod, 
" A Drunkard *s Grave, drink was his god /" 

Thousands of drunkards in the city of New York, and 
the world over, are still, even now, exhibiting, in all their 
walks, scowl of their brow, redness of their nose and eyes, 
stammering of their tongue, staggering of their gait, places 
and company of their resort, character of their selected 
associates, and many other traits of their appearance, con- 
duct, and character, that they belong to the Freshman, 
Sophomore, Junior, or Senior Class of the Drunkard's 
Herd in Banditti. That they are utterly unqualified for 
the official duties of husbands or wives, parents or children, 
masters or servants, farmers or mechanics, merchants or 
clerks, stockholders or agents, town, county, state, or na- 



EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 87 

tional officers of any gradation or description, civil, mili- 
tary, scientifical, or ecclesiastical ; and, of course, that they 
are fit only to make, sell, and drink the common " bever- 
ages" of the drunkard, in the light of the day, in the dark 
ness of the night, in splendid hotels, in various descriptions 
of tippling houses, lounging shops, and degraded, and still 
more degrading rum-holes, and indescribable other places 
of customary resort ; all of whom, to whatever class be- 
longing, are in the daily and nightly habit of swallowing 
down greater or less potions of various kinds of alcoholic 
beverages, full of deadly poison ; and, finally, that the 
beverages containing the destructive poison, if " not neces- 
sarily intoxicating" yet, positively, they all do contain 
alcohol, the intoxicating principle ; which, when quaffed 
in sufficient quantity by the quaffers, these " customary 
beverages," containing the alcoholic poison, thus escaped 
from the cup, in their delightful passage from the smack- 
ing lips through the open jaws and teeth, into the narrow 
channel of the throat, hence into the inflammatory region 
of the stomach, and from thence driven with fury into the 
arterial canals, and through them steering and fighting 
their course with indescribable and resistless velocity into 
all the extremities of the human body, where the mysteri- 
ous work of their internal office of intoxication commences, 
the effects of which can not be denied ; for millions of wit- 
nesses have practically testified the fact, which no individ- 
ual ever was able to disprove; namely, that alcoholic 
liquors, by whatever name they are called, do positively 
intoxicate the drinkers, in such an intoxicating manner, as 
to befool, bewitch, besmear, bedaub, bewilder, benumb, 



88 EIGHTH AND NINTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 

stupefy, derange, craze, and madden, till one after another 
has long been dead. Others are dying. And some aban- 
doned wretches, in fits of delirium tremens, murder their 
wives, cut the throats of their children, set their house on 
fire, cut their own throat, and thus take the awful leap 
into dark, dread eternity, to receive the wages of sin justly 
due, which is nothing less nor more than ceaseless, hope- 
less death, " everlasting punishment," endless misery, 
" eternal damnation /" 

In torment's endless fiery pit of hell, 
Where devils howl, and drunkards with them dwell ; 
Where cider, whisky, brandy, wine, nor rum, 
Nor water, even, to cool tongues, can come. 



CHAPTER V. 



Tenth Remonstrative Eeason considered and reduced to a Logical Conclusion — 
Part of the Eleventh Eeason Analyzed— Liquor Dealers Plea for King Alcohol — 
Prospective Effects of the Maine Law, if obtained as a Statute of the State of 
New York — Comparative Loss and Gain to the City and State of New York, 
and also to the General Community, if the Liquor Law of Maine should be- 
come the Statute and General Law of Nations. 



TENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The tenth remonstrative reason against the introduc- 
tion of the Liquor Law of Maine into the State of New 
York, as a statute, is now before the legislature of the Em- 
pire State [Feb., 1852], on a question of vital importance 
to the whole American Union, and to all nations of the 
earth. And as this reason has been pronounced by an 
able writer,* as merely " opinionative," i.e., a sentiment 
vaguely drawn on one side of a sentimental line of- debar- 
kation, founded merely on assumption, which admits of 
no other argumentative authority than opinion against 
opinion ; hence the Eev. Mr. H. B. Beegle, of Bound brook, 
N. J., and the Rev. George Peck, D. D., of New York 
city, are hereby introduced as umpires, so far as their 
published opinions, unitedly, may tend to settle the im- 
portant question of right or wrong, between advocates of 
total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, as a com- 

* Dr. Peck, of New York. 



90 TENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

mon beverage, and the advocates of the liquor-craft monop- 
oly, sustained by statute law. 

In a well- written article for the Christian Advocate and 
Journal, headed "rum selling," and published under date 
of February 5, 1852, t?he Rev. Mr. Beegle gives his 
opinion to the public on the question of right or wrong to 
make, sell, and consume intoxicating liquors. The article 
occupies more than a column of the large sheet of the 
valuable paper above named, and is worthy of perusal by 
all advocates, either for or against the right or the wrong 
of all that belongs to the liquor-craft business. The fol- 
lowing are extracts from the article above stated : 

"rum selling." 

" The rum-seller, the ram-seller ! What can be said in 
favor of the rum-seller, who, for gain — paltry gain — will 
continue to dispense that which is destroying the peace 
and happiness, honor, health, and life, soul and body, of 
those around him, and look, unmoved, upon the ruin he is 
working in the community, the legitimate fruit of his 
business ? Better, yea better, ten thousand times better 
for the rum-seller, to give to each and all his customers, 
as they come, a dose of arsenic, which would lay them 
dead in a few hours. 

" It would save the drunkard a vast amount of suffering. 
Who can portray the sufferings of a drunkard, when, in 
the last burning crucible of rum, suffering the delirium 
tremens? Here the gnawings of liquid fire are devouring 
him ! his body sinks and mind reels under the load of real 
torture ! All this suffering would have been saved, had 



TENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 91 

the rum-seller been kind enough to have given him a dose 
of arsenic. 

"The drunkard's wife! Who can tell her woe, her 
sufferings, and her grief ? No language is sufficiently ex- 
pressive, no tongue sufficiently eloquent, to portray the 
sufferings of the drunkard's wife. Had the rum-seller 
given arsenic, it would have stanched this tide of woe, 
prevented the drunkard from squandering his property, 
and beggaring his family. A dose of arsenic from the 
rum-seller would have murdered him more decently, more 
cheaply, and just as effectually as all the poison he bought 
with his farm and cash, and would have saved this pro- 
perty to the drukard's family, where it should be. It 
would sooner open the eyes of the community to see the 
startling crime of licensing such a business, and the ivorse 
crime of prosecuting it. 

" If the rum-seller would administer arsenic, and the vic- 
tim should in a few hours lie down dead, it would not be 
long before those of his customers who might remain, 
startled and surprised at the appalling sight, would throw 
down the fatal poison, and hasten home to their business ; 
the community would awake, and take the alarm, and, 
burning with virtuous indignation, would hang the mur- 
derer, and drive the business from the land." Such is the 
opinion of the Rev. Mr. Beegle. 

Doctor Peck's reply to the tenth reason of the remon- 
strance of New Yorkers, against the legislative enactment 
of the Liquor Law of Maine, is short, comprehensive, and 
decisive. The amount of .the remonstrative reason, under 
his review, was merely the assumption, " That the vice of 



93 

intoxication, now rapi yng all cL 

under the influence :..nple. would be 

aggravated by posed law, as undet 

the suffrage law r 1S45. — VvL Tenth 

The doctors following laconic reply, it will be perceived, 

. that the tenth 
win the remonstrance before the Legislature 
: and, that a professed " reo. 
founded on nothing but opinion, is to be considered, in ail 

> >. as vague, indefinite, and baseless, having no founda- 
tion on fiicts for support. Hence, in reply to a 
reason of thousands of remonstrancers against the legis- 
enactment of the Liquor L Iwne, Dr. Peck 

tips the whole fabric of their tenth reason topsy-turvy by 
one dash of pen, ink, and paper, thus : " Their opinion in 
these matters is worth nothing We deny that drunken- 
ness increased unde: a law of 1845 ; and 
that it is now rapidly diminishing, no man of common 
and common observation believes for a moment." 

> ;;h are the united opinions of umpires between the 
right and wrong of all that belongs to the liquor-craft mo- 
nopoly. The anon I no opini: er plausi- 
ble, can ever prove that it is right to do wrong ! As well 
might an opinion prove that light is darkness, or that dark- 
ness is ligh: ! The imj ra ::: mk Bity : f such a sophism could 
as easily be overcome, as to prove by any argumentative 
opinions tl right to make and sell intoxicating 
liquors, to make and kill drunkards by a craft to accumu- 
late wealth, sustained by the <laws of the land, while the 
thunderhw : Omnipotence from heaven denounces 



TENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 93 

woes against drunkenness, drunkards, and drunkard makers, 
and the very tokens of the forthcoming woes are filling 
the land with wretchedness. 

And hence we remark conclusively on this article, that 
if the Liquor Law of Maine, in statute throughout Christen- 
dom and the world, would prevent the curse of drunken- 
ness at once, by the destruction of the poison which pro- 
duces self-murder by degrees, slowly and surely (though 
under the lashing influence of discriminate moral suasion, 
and conscience let loose upon transgressors, yet resisted 
efficiently by the power of a morbid appetite and thirst 
for strong drink unto perpetual drunkenness, in full view 
of all its consequences both here and hereafter), then 
surely the voice of humanity, in philanthropic strains, loud 
and long, with trumpet sound, would dictate the passage 
of the Liquor Law of Maine into a statute, not only in 
the State of New York, but throughout the American 
Union, and all nations of the earth, without fail or delay. 
None would be opposed to the universal Temperance Re- 
formation instanter, but manufacturers, traffickers, and 
consumers of alcoholic poisonous beverages, to be made 
and sold for wealth, and consumed for pleasure, at the ex- 
pense of all the wretchedness resulting from drunkenness 
in this life, and the woes of endless death in the world to 
come, to all impenitent parties concerned in the God-pro- 
voking, heaven-daring, soul-destroying craft of the prevail- 
ing system of liquor monopoly. 

Nothing is wanting but the Liquor Law of Maine, 
legally adopted, as a statute of every national govern- 
ment of the earth, and executed faithfully by the combined 



94 ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

energies of virtuous communities, to drive drunkenness 
into the shades of oblivion ; to save millions of drunkards 
from the woes, and sorrows, and degradation, and miseries 
to which they are exposed by the bane of alcoholic poison- 
ous beverages, which only increase their thirst unto death. 
And nothing is wanting but the Maine Law, well executed, 
to consummate the healthful, peaceful, glorious Temper- 
ance Reformation triumphant over Intemperance, the tyrant 
of desolation, and the curse of all cursedness that ever in- 
fested our land and world. 

ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

The import of this reason is thus stated : " The enforce- 
ment of the proposed law in the city of New York would 
cause a loss of many millions of dollars, and be incalcula- 
bly destructive of the commercial interests, character, and 
prosperity of the emporium of the American TJnionP 

Three items of computation are required in the investi- 
gation of the above reason. First, the amount of loss to 
the city of New York alone by the statute of the Liquor 
Law of Maine, if enacted and fully executed after the ex- 
ample of the State of Maine. Secjndly, the proportionate 
loss to the whole State of New York, by the same stand- 
ard of estimation, and on the same principle. And, thirdly , 
a comparative view of loss and gain, to parties concerned, 
by the statute of the law in question, enacted and enforced 
in the State of New York. 

The first item of computation has been settled in a 
pamphlet recently published in the city of New York, en- 
titled " A Rational Appeal to American Citizens, com- 



ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 95 

prising a Review and Defense of the New York Re- 
monstrance/' 

The following extract is taken from said pamphlet, 
Chapter VII., proposition XL, page 16, and may be de- 
nominated, The liquor dealer's plea of defense against 
impending Maine Law encroachments upon the rights of 
the combined liquor-craft monopoly to obtain and hoard 
up wealth by the trade of making and killing drunkards. 
The extract from the above described pamphlet is as 
follows : 

"The lowest estimate that has been made, or that, perhaps, 
can be made, of the loss upon real estate in this city and 
county [New York], is thirty millions of dollars, besides, at 
least, twenty millions more upon the capital invested in vari- 
ous kinds of business, which the law [Maine Law] would 
directly and immediately destroy. For it is not hotels, 
porter houses, and groceries alone that would be affected ; 
but a thousand other places of refreshment and entertain- 
ment, together with breweries, distilleries, importers' stores 
and offices, malt houses, cooperies, bottle manufactories, 
sugar refineries, and many other buildings, to say nothing 
of the various mechanical trades, and other occupations, nor 
of the capital invested in the stock in trade, and in the con- 
tracts made, that would all be destroyed by such a law. An 
estimate has been published, showing that the direct loss to 
this city alone would exceed a hundred millions of dollars in 
the first yearP 

Now, let this published estimate by the remonstrancers 
against the proposed statute of the Liquor Law of Maine, 
and admitted by them, even, to be underrated, i. e., less 



96 ELEVENTH BB&B ":: )¥ KKM 

than the real loss would be found to be, on an exact esti- 
mation, be nevertheless, as it is, the standard of our compu- 
tation on the solution of the second item of the liquor 
dealer's estimated loss of capital, investments of real es- 
tate, stock in trade, and all other items of estimated or 
anticipated loss of the whole liquor-craft company in the 
i:\-.o %: S:a>: of X-;v: York, in the s:;n:e r:r.'.< :■: ,, :.::ron 
of New York cit y loss, during the term of one year after 
the adoption and execution of the Maine Law statute in 
the Empire State, should the proposed law of Maine be- 
eome u 5:.:::.::' -:-i Xe~ Y::k. 

There are fifty-eight counties in the State of New York. 
The estimated loss of one county is settled by the remon- 
stra tors at one hundred millions of dollars. The question 
now is, what amount will be a fair and equitable proportion 
of the average loss of the fifty-seven other counties of the 
State of New York. Considering their vast extent of ter- 
ritory, the great number and wealth of their cities, villages, 
country towns, commercial interests, real estate invest- 
ments, bank-stock, railroad, steamboat, farming, mechani- 
cal, and manufacturing investments, establishments, and 
interests ; and that the fifty-seven counties are interspersed 
thousands of splendid hotels, and various other in- 
vestments and interests, all of which above catalogue of 
interests are, more or less, directly or indirectly connected 
with the liquor craft of making, vending, and consuming 
intoxicating liquors, and, consequently, that all would be 
exposed to a proportional loss with that of the city and 
<:-:un:v •:: Xe~ Y :■:■'-:. --;-.; :h has been estimated at one 
hundred millions of dollars on the first year of a Maine 



ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE, 97 

Law statute encroachment ; the average proportion of loss 
to each county of the Empire State could not probably be 
considered less than one tenth of the estimated loss of the 
emporium of the State. Perhaps the Remonstrancers 
would estimate the average proportion of loss to the other 
counties of the State much higher. But, be that as it may, 
higher or lower, one-tenth of one hundred millions would 
be ten millions of dollars at an average to each of the 
other fifty-seven counties of the State, amounting in all to 
five hundred and seventy millions of dollars, which, added 
to the one hundred millions of the city and county of 
New York, would be six hundred and seventy millions of 
dollars. 

This immense sum of capital, all in funds or investments 
of liquor dealers and their accomplices, in the most lucra- 
tive craft that adorns the innumerable splendid hotels, ele- 
gant boarding-houses, and all necessary eating, drinking, 
smoking, and sleeping houses of entertainment, to say 
nothing of the innumerable equally necessary dram-shops, 
and indescribable other places of resort for drinking and tak- 
ing comfort, all of which adorn, and beautify, and enrich 
this celebrated Empire State of the American Union. And ' 
yet, sad to relate, or even state, the fearfully impending 
danger of loss, while six hundred and seventy millions of 
dollars are at hazard of loss by the threatened Maine 
law! 

But LET THE LIQUOR DEALER PLEAD HIS OWN CAUSE ! He 

would doubtless say, Alas ! who can wonder that stock- 
holders of such wealth and usefulness should be moved at 
the sound of the trumpet of alarm from hosts of reformed 

9 



98 ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

drunkards, and fanatical total abstinence combinations of 
temperance societies, for the destruction of property which 
is not their own, and for the destruction of the liquor- 
business craft, in which they have no interest. And yet 
the liquor craft, above all others, is known to be the very 
life blood of health, wealth, comfort, and social enjoyment 
to all the nations of Christendom, and to all individuals of 
the earth, who have not tamely submitted their necks to 
the intolerable despotism of cold-water laws ! 

That which is now most to be feared, is the danger, the 
impending danger, and hazard of the total loss of not less 
than six hundred and seventy millions of dollars, the sole 
property of the virtuous stock-holders, craftsmen, and other 
rightful owners and exclusive proprietors of all the re- 
sources appertaining to the liquor-making and liquor- vend- 
ing craft, upon which the very nation itself depends for 
national comfort, liberty, independence, and existence ! De- 
stroy the liquor by law, and the liquor craft fails ; over- 
throw the liquor crafty and the nation is undone ! 

Such destruction, such desolation, is most lamentably 
contemplated against the laws and liberties of this noble, 
free, and independent State of New York, on which is found 
some of the brightest memorials of revolutionary triumph- 
to perpetuate the remembrance of the brave, and the 
glories of their military achievements to unborn genera- 
tions. But now, alas ! degradation, total abstinence des- 
potism, and ruin, hang over our highly exalted heads, to 
cast us down beneath the infamous beck of reformed drunk- 
ards, and total abstinence temperance societies ! recreants 
from all respectable social societies of earth — self-exalted 



ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 99 

aspirants after the sovereign power of total abstinenceism, 
a worse despotism than any tyranny that ever threatened 
the nation. Six hundred and seventy millions of dollars 
(and perhaps ten times more), all belonging to proprietors 
of the distinguishingly celebrated liquor craft, are this 
moment at hazard of loss in this free, independent State 
of New York by the above described recreant, degrading, 
despotic, temperance aspirants, infinitely more infamous 
than pirates or robbers ! Reformed drunkards, fanatical 
total abstinence temperance combinations and associations 
are plotting against rights, and liberties, and interests, 
which they are clandestinely seeking to destroy. And who 
can tell but that the fatal hour is near ; even after the 
" snow" squalls of winter are passed away, the lurching 
enemy in ambuscade may yet bring on a spring thunder- 
storm of a Maine Law squall of a legislative total abstinence 
statute law, which, in a temperance tornado of one year 
only, will sweep six hundred and seventy millions of dollars 
or more, from honest liquor-craft funds (accumulated from 
the virtuous sales of the " fruits of the earth"), into total 
abstinence temperance societies' coffers, and pour the liquor 
stock on hand into the common sewer, mouth of the earth, 
or bowels of the ocean for destruction, unless manfully 
resisted by fire-arms, bloodshed, and death, by massacre 
and slaughter, in St. Bartholomew's style, which may be 
depended on, and looked for without fail or remorse ! 

Now, if liquor dealers and stock-holders of the liquor 
craft will condescend to use the above plea, which has 
been unsolicited and gratuitously prepared for their dis« 
consolate, terrific, and fearful cause, of making gold out 



100 ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

of the manufacture and traffic of liquid fire-water, poison, 
and death, to make and kill poor drunkards ; they may 
find some further lessons, of the same import, under the 
next fearful omen of providential destruction to the whole 
liquor craft of their abominable Diana and worship of 
Bacchus. 

Let one more estimation be made, on the supposition 
of the enactment, inflexible execution, and permanent en- 
durance of the Liquor Law of Maine, as a statute of the 
State -of New York, irrespective of all consequences in 
relation to the effect of the said statute upon the capital 
investments, stock of trade on hand, or losses, less or 
more, of dollars and craft, comprising all the complicated 
liquor trade of making drunkards for gain. Leave all 
these considerations out of the question for the present, 
and let it be supposed, taken for granted to be a fact, that 
the Liquor Law of Maine is fearlessly enacted by the ma- 
jority of the present session of the Hon. Legislature of 
the State of New York, now in session in the capital of 
the State,* and that a vast majority of the sovereign peo- 
ple, a total abstinence majority, with best desires, and 
prayers, and feelings toward all others, should inflexibly 
determine, and put their determination into unyielding 
and indiscriminate execution, to destroy the alcoholic 
poison of life, that it should not even be found to make 
drunkards, and then poison them to death. And that the 
minority of the whole community should wisely, prudent- 
ly, and submissively coincide so far with the statute of 
the State, as to say, " Let the experiment be tried. What- 

* Composed in February, 1852, while the Legislature was in session. 



ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 101 

ever may be the loss or gain to conflicting parties con- 
cerned, and at variance, let the liquor be destroyed, ac- 
cording to law, and prove the effects of the experiment on 
the general community." 

Now suppose, still further, that the trial of the Maine 
Law statute, during one year, should produce salutary ef- 
fects in the reformation of thousands of poor, degraded 
drunkards, who became pledged members of total absti- 
nence temperance societies, in restoring their families to 
comfort, peace, and plenty, and in moving the community 
in general (without excited opposition) to cry aloud, 
by their united petitions to the next annual Legislature, 
" Give us the New York Statute Liquor Law of last year," 
and the almost unanimous result of the legislative ballot-box 
should be, " Pioneers, W ashing tonians, Sons, Daughters, 
Rechabites, Cadets, whether you have been all voters or 
not, your prayers are granted ; the Maine Law statute of 
New York is continued." 

Now let us have the anticipated pleasure of a further 
supposition, that on a continued successful trial of the cele- 
brated statute law to destroy poison, and save drunkards, 
during the periods of five, ten, fifteen, yea, twenty years, 
the whole State community, under the influence, not only 
of common sense, but also in the exercise of both moral 
and legal suasion, united with common sense, in the prac- 
tical exercise of moral, abstemious, and religious principle, 
should become, uniformly, pledged members of total 
abstinence temperance societies, without a rum-selling 
or liquor-beverage hotel, drinking house, dram shop, 
liquor grocery, nor degrading, beverage- drinking rum- 



102 ELEVENTH REASON OF REMONSTRANCE. 

hole in the State of New York, neither in city nor 
in country, but the glorious contrast everywhere dis- 
played, by the unfurled banners of total abstinence, tem- 
perance, joy, peace, plenty, and prosperity, waving over 
the land ! 

Behold now the portrait representation of the moral 
condition of the whole temperance State of New York. 
Not a single liquor-tippling, hard-drinker, manufacturer of 
alcohol, liquor-trafficker, rum-seller, nor liquor capitalist 
opposed to temperance — no; not one of the above de- 
scription elected to Congress, nor to be found in either de- 
partment of the State Legislature; nor one such to be 
found in the official capacity of a county, town, or city- 
ward officer ! Not a tippling physician would be found on 
a visit to the sick and dying. Not a drunken mechanic 
even to seek for employment. Not a staggering day- 
laborer would be found in the street begging bread be- 
cause he could find no employment. Not a drunken hus- 
band would be found beating his wife in hunger, because 
he had provided nothing for his household to eat. Not a 
drunkard's heart-broken wife could be found, with her 
freezing, starving children in tatters, hovering over a few 
coals, or supperless in a bunk of straw, while the father 
was snoring in the rum-seller's catch-penny room, under 
the fumes of his last sixpence worth of whisky. Not a 
tippling, red-nosed, red-eyed professed minister of the 
Gospel of Christ crucified, to be found in any pulpit in the 
land. Not a mob liquor-tumult in the street, nor a mur- 
der committed in a drunken revel — no ; not an instance 
of the kind, through the rolling years of a longer or 



ELEVENTH REASON OF KEMONSTEANCE. 103 

shorter period, during the existence of the Maine Liquor 
Law statute of the State of New York. Such would be 
the total abstinence gain of the statute of New York for 
the destruction of alcoholic poison — for the preservation 
of life, comfort, peace, and prosperity to the general com- 
munity, and the preservation of poor drunkards and their 
families from the degradation, wretchedness, and woes of 
intemperance. 

But, alas ! during such a period of trial, eminently cal- 
culated, by its intrinsic excellence, to perpetuate its indu- 
bitable existence indefinitely, what becomes of the liquor- 
dealer's cause, the state of their business and funds — what 
is the amount of their loss, and the destiny of their craft 
to get rich by making and killing drunkards % The word 
" overthrown" comprises the import of the whole answer. 
Their whole business, which has so long filled the world 
with drunkards, wretchedness, and misery, is overthrown 
by the wisdom, and goodness, and power of Divine Om- 
nipotence ! Their boasted one hundred millions of dol- 
lars, at hazard of loss, in the city of New York (if truly 
estimated), were lost the first year of the existence of the 
Maine Law statute, enacted and executed according to 
law. Their additional loss, in proportional estimate on 
the other fifty- seven counties of the state, whatever that 
amount might be, whether five hundred and seventy mil- 
lions of dollars, or ten times that amount — even fifty- 
seven hundreds of millions, less or more — all would be 
lost, and scattered in the wind like chaff by the statute 
Law of Maine, the whole liquor-craft monopoly would 
be totally overthrown, and succeeded by temperance, 



104 ELEVENTH REASON OF KKMONSTRAKCB. 

peace, and prosperity to the millions of human bei 
the world over, gloriously emancipated from the thrall- 
dom and all the woes of Intemperance, and triumph- 
antly happy in the accomplishment of the Temperance 
Reformation. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Further Considerations on the comparative amount of Loss and Gain Estimations, 
at Hazard by the Adoption or Rejection of the Law of Maine, as a Statute of 
the State of New York — Importance of Humiliation and Prayer, in View of 
this General War of Principle, for and against the Cause of Temperance, in 
answer to the Forebodings of the Twelfth Reason of the Remonstraucers 
against the Adoption of the Law of Maine, as a Statute of the Empire 
State. 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

The subject of this chapter is to consider a comparative 
view of the loss and gain, at hazard, pending upon the 
legislative adoption of the Liquor Law of Maine, as a 
statute of the State of New York, in compliance with hun- 
dreds of thousands of petitions from advocates of total 
abstinence temperance societies, for the enactment of 
the statute aforesaid; or, the legislative rejection of the 
Maine Law statute, in accordance with the remonstrance 
of thousands of citizens of New York, sustained by their 
" Twelve Reasons, Review, and Defense" in favor of the 
prevailing liquor-craft monopoly. 

We have been thus particular in stating this concluding 
article of the eleventh " reason" of the New York remon- 
strance, because it comprises an estimation of the loss and 
gain on the two great principles of loss and gain, which 
have thrown the whole commimity of the State of New 



>MPABATEVE LOBS A2s~D GAIN. 

York into two grand divisions, in direct opposition to 
each other, great question of interest ; to be esti- 

mated in '"dollars and cents'' by the grand division of all 
interested advocates of the liquor trade, who are remon- 
straneers against the pre statute in question; and 

the professed, paramount interest claims of all total ab- 
stinence temperance advocates, to be estimated, not in 
paltry dollars and cents, nor even in any amount of mil- 
lions of dollars, but in the more important valuation of a 
sober community, instead of tipplers, hard drinkers, and 
drunkards, and the inestimable value of immortal souls of 
human beings, in : ion with the claims of any 

amount of cash, real estate, or liquor-stock valuation what- 
ever. 

Xow, the comparative difference between many millions 
of dollars, indefinitely, lost or gained, to a party concerned, 
ne hand, and the valuation of a sober community, 
and the worth of an indefinite number of human souls, 
lost by drunkenness, or gained by to: eiice from 

intoxicating liquors, and washed from the guilt of sin 
in the blood of atonement, delineated and exhibited in 
contrast, is the design of this descriptive and comparative 
conclusion. 

And let it be distinctly understood, that the amount of 
valuation, computed by each party above described on 
the respective principles of their estimation, namely, of an 
amount of cash, or cash valuation, on the one hand, and 
the amount of sobriety and the value of human souls, on 
the other hand, even both of which conflicting amounts, 
we claim, are to be considered as at hazard, of loss or 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 107 

gain, to each party concerned in the conflict, to be deter- 
mined, decided, and awarded, to the full amount of gain 
claimed by the successful party, and to the full amount of 
loss estimated by the unsuccessful party, each of whose con- 
flicting claims are to be decided by the casting vote of the 
New York State Legislature, now in session in the city of 
Albany, with hundreds of thousands of temperance peti- 
tions for the Maine Law statute, and thousands of anti- 
temperance remonstrance signatures before them against 
the adoption of the Maine Law statute. One party peti- 
tioning for a law to suppress intemperance, the other 
party, by remonstrance, praying for laws to secure the 
perpetuity of the present popular and prevailing liquor- 
craft monopoly, unmolested. 

It must also be confessed by all of both conflicting par- 
ties concerned in this political warfare, that a question of 
equal importance was seldom, if ever, before pending on 
the decision of human legislators ! And yet it must, also, 
be confessed that the legislature of this Empire State, 
now in session in the city of Albany, have it in their power 
to favor the party of their choice, by enacting a statute in 
compliance with petitions of total abstinence temperance 
advocates for the suppression of intemperance, and its 
woes and wretchedness ; the gain of which can be estima- 
ted only by the value of a total abstinence temperance 
society, comprising the whole State community of New 
York, with their Maine Law statute in full operation, for 
the total extermination of the common use of intoxicating 
liquors ; or, by rejecting all temperance petitions, and 
thus to favor the party of remonstrancers against the pro- 



108 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

posed Maine Law statute, by a total rejection of the peti- 
tioned statute, and even, if they please, by denouncing it, 
in the repudiable language of the remonstrancers, as " The 
audacious and fanatical project of temperance or total absti- 
nence societies, the chief instigators and abettors of a despotic 
usurpation, more degrading in its political character than 
any which history records /" 

Thus, it is confessed to be in the power of combined 
officers of the Empire State to reject the respectful prayers 
qf all the advocates of total abstinence temperance socie- 
ties, and to give the whole amount of gain claimed by the 
proprietors of the liquor-trade monopoly, and all inter- 
ested advocates of the liquor craft, without the award of 
any degree of loss on their part whatsoever. But, instead 
of loss, to give them the full value of their own estimated 
immense cash gain, to the amount of at least one hundred 
millions of dollars, to the liquor-craft associates of the city 
of New York, and a proportional estimated sum to the 
liquor-craft associates of the other fifty-seven counties of 
the State of New York, whatever that proportion may be, 
whether five hundred and seventy millions of dollars, or 
ten times that sum, amounting to five billions seven hun- 
dred millions of dollars, more or less, the amount of their 
whole claim would be granted. And in addition to this 
grant, an annual increase would be added, in proportion 
to the facilities for the promotion of the increase of the 
use of intoxicating liquors, in one great State anti-temper- 
ance society, organized for the purpose of sustaining the 
liquor-trade monopoly, of making and selling the poison 
of intoxicating liquors to make drunkards for gain, in the 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AJSTD GAIN, 109 

following ratio ; namely, the more intoxicating liquors are 
consumed, the more wretchedness will be occasioned in 
the State by intoxication. Consequently, the greater 
number of drunkards will be made, and the result of this 
liquor consumption, thus increasing, will be a proportional 
increase of gain to all proprietors of the liquor-trade-craft 
company. One hundred millions of dollars annual gain 
to the liquor dealers of New York city, according to their 
present computation, would, in all probability, be soon 
doubled, annually, by such a ratio of increase and pros- 
perity of the liquor-craft association, in the full tide of an 
unmolested monopoly. And the same proportional in- 
crease of gain in the above ratio for the whole State of 
New York, annually, would so increase the wealth of the 
liquor- trade company of the State, that they would soon 
find it necessary to "pull dotvn their barns and build 
greater" i, e., make larger ships for freight, and larger 
stores for the deposit of liquors, and larger hotels for the 
accommodation of rich consumers of alcohol, and an untold 
increase of number of shanties, rum-holes, city-corner gro- 
ceries, cellars, and other indescribable places for the sale 
of liquors in all quantities, of intoxicating beverages, to 
gentlemen consumers, constant tipplers, hard drinkers, and 
drunkards of all descriptions of the lower classes of com- 
munity, down to the most degrading objects of any liquor- 
drinking establishment in city or country, on land or water, 
throughout the Empire State ! But " as brooks make riv- 
ers" and " rivers swell to seas" so all the profits of intoxi- 
cating liquors, consumed by whomsoever quaffed, if paid 
for, increases the wealth of the liquor-trade company, 
10 



110 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

whose dependence for millions of cash is on the Legisla- 
ture, for a law to secure their success. 

And, as for their untold millions of dollars annually in- 
creasing, it may soon come to pass, that for want of great 
iron safes, they may soon find it necessary to employ the 
drunkards (and pay them in some kind of " beverage") to 
dig great holes in the earth to hide and keep their cash 
in safety till wanted. And, if anti-temperance measures 
should thus continue to flourish till the temperance total 
abstinence nuisances are all dead, the liquor-dealing-craft 
company might, after all, find themselves so surrounded, 
and overrun, and annoyed with beggars for a little intoxi- 
cating beverage, without money to pay for it, and for a few 
crumbs for their starving wives and children, and for a 
few old clothes, and some coal or wood to keep them from 
freezing, that the whole liquor-craft company might find 
themselves under the absolute necessity of paying all, or 
nearly all, the state, county, and town taxes, until, to be 
rid of further trouble to get rich, the whole liquor-craft 
company may probably yet find it necessary (by hiring 
drunkards to vote for them, for ready liquor pay, thus) to 
elect themselves, en masse, into one great, grand, liquor- 
controlling State Legislature, and, thus convened in the 
capitol, resolve, and pass a liquor law, nem. con., that all 
the poor drunkards and their wretched families might all 
drink cold water, the very " drink of the inferior animals" 
or thirst, and starve to death, and go to the devil ! And, 
if there were none left with money to buy liquor, one thing 
would be certain, the liquor dealers and their families would 
have plenty of all kinds of " fruits of the earth" made into 



OOMPAEATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. HI 

agreeable customary beverages" to drink as long as they live, 
without paying for it ! And it might be added, in the same 
style, that if the whole liquor -craft company, themselves, 
should all become drunkards by the means, they would 
have one thing to boast of in their dying hour, namely, 
that they all became rich by inflexible opposition to the 
Maine Law statute. And that, when death should deprive 
them of drinking any more " fruits of the earth, at their 
own discretion and responsibility" and summons them. 
nolens volens, to leave this world of liquor business, if they 
could not be permitted to transport with them to the grave 
neither their stock of liquors on hand, nor any portion of 
their hoarded millions of dollars in cash, still they could 
boast, and even glory in their expiring exultations, that the 
devil himself could not deprive them of loving, both their 
" beverage" and hoarded cash, to their last gasp for breath ! 
and, for greater happiness than this, they most probably 
would never seek in life, and, consequently, never find in 
death ! 

Now, let it be well remembered and kept in mind, that 
the amount of all the above described untold millions of 
dollars in cash, or equivalent investments of wealth in real 
estate or stock in trade, with all the anticipated glory in 
connection, is to be considered, and professedly is so consid- 
ered, as being all in a state of hazard, and subject to total 
loss and irretrievable overthrow forever, if the Legislature 
of the State of New York, now in session in Albany, should 
decide by a majority of votes to reject all the reasons of a 
" Rational Appeal of American Citizens," addressed to the 
said Hon. Legislature, in support of a remonstrance of 



112 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

thousands of respectable New York citizens against the 
enactment of the petitioned Maine Law statute ; and in con- 
formity with temperance petitions, the Legislature, by a 
majority of votes, should adopt and enact the said Liquor 
Law of Maine as a statute of the State of New York. In 
this case all prospects of wealth by the liquor-trade mo- 
nopoly would be at an end during the existence of said 
statute ; and all the above estimated worth of the liquor 
business would be a dead loss ! 

But, if the Legislature should decide otherwise by a ma- 
jority of votes, and reject all temperance petitions, and adopt 
the principles embraced in the reasons of the remonstran- 
cers against the adoption of the Maine Law statute, and thus 
favor the legality of liquor manufacture, traffic, and con- 
sumption unmolested ; and thus fortified by the strong arm 
of legal power, then the sneaking, croaking, tumultuous , 
annoying, despicable, and contemptible temperance noodles 
and boobies would be able to find their place elsewhere on 
earth than in a lawful liquor-selling establishment, 
where, at the sight of their face, or a horse hitched under a 
tavern shed, a sixpence would be required by the landlord. 

But in the further investigation of this subject, one im- 
portant item of estimation is so essentially connected with 
the paramount interest of the whole human family, that a 
passable notice of it must not be omitted. This is the 
estimated price of one lost soul of a drunkard. The inten- 
tion of this passing notice is to establish a standard of 
estimating the real loss to the total abstinence temperance 
community of the State of New York, if the Legislature 
should be disposed to reject the thousands of temperance 



COMPARATIVE LOSS ANTD GAIN. 113 

advocate petitions, and their earnest supplicatory prayers 
for legal aid, by a total rejection of the Maine Law statute, 
and thus favor and secure to the Remonstrancers their 
estimated millions of dollars at hazard, by legalizing the 
whole systematic operations of the liquor-trade monopoly 
under the sanction of license law control. 

The price or estimated value of one lost soul of a 
drunkard is now required ! But who shall be selected 
to make the required estimation. What master of arts is 
sufficiently competent to make an accurate estimation of 
the value in dollars and cents, or in liquor-trade stock, or 
in liquor-trade proprietor's real-estate "investments" to 
the full amount in estimated cash value, equivalent to that 
of the lost soul of one poor drunkard ? Who can be found 
to settle this important question ? The most perfect mas- 
ter of the art of numbers of whom we have any account, 
once put a question to pupils under his tuition, recorded in 
a book, which, if considered, may probably afford some 
clew to assist some mathematical artist in an attempt, at 
least, to estimate the value of the lost soul of a drunkard. 
One of the pupils who heard the question wrote it down in 
a book of record which he kept. And what was most re- 
markable, although the question was most profoundly 
deep, intricate, complex, and of the utmost importance to 
be well understood, and was stated to the pupils in the 
most plain manner, requiring only a solution in the well- 
known arithmetical rule of loss and gain ; yet the master 
did not answer the question himself, nor teach his scholars 
how to answer it. The pupil who recorded the question 
did not attempt an answer, And thus it stands to this 



114 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIK. 

day, in the same old blessed book, called The Holy Bible, 
a question in a plain arithmetical rule, unanswered. Thus, 
" What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole 
world, and lose his own soul % Or what shall a man give 
in exchange for his soul ?" — Mark viii. 36, 37. 

If any persons are disposed to inquire what is meant by 
the loss of a drunkard's soul, they are referred to the fol- 
lowing portions of the Holy Bible for an answer, where it 
will be found that drunkards, impenitent drunkards, so 
living and dying, are classed among the wicked, the work- 
ers of iniquity, who are doomed to be forever excluded 
from the kingdom of heaven, and are also destined by the 
revealed purpose of God to a state, after the death of the 
body, of endless punishment in hell, with Satan and his 
legions of fallen angels. Thus, " The soul that sinneth, it 
shall die." — Ezek. xviii. 4. " For the wages of sin is 
death" — Rom. vi. 23. " The wicked shall be turned into 
hell." — Psalm ix. 17. At the last great general judgment 
day, all the enemies of God will be doomed to a state of 
endless punishment. The judge will say, " Depart from 
me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
his angels" — Matt. xxv. 41. Drunkards will be forever 
shut out of heaven among other impenitent sinners, of the 
most atrocious, hateful, and abominable description. 

The curse of God was upon them of olden times. Thus 
it was said, " Woe unto them that rise up early in the morn- 
ing, that they may follow strong drink ; that continue until 
night, till wine inflame them." — Isa. v. 11. " Woe unto 
them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength, to 
mingle strong drink" — Isa, v. 22. " Woe to the crown 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 115 

of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim" — Isa. xxviii. 1. 
" Know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God 1 Be not deceived : neither fornicators, 
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
drunkards , shall inherit the kingdom of God. 5 '— 1 Cor. 
vi. 9. " The works of the flesh are manifest, which are 
these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulation, wrath, 
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness. 
They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of 
6W."_Gal. v. 19. 

Such is the language of the Holy Bible. God's book of 
inspiration, which reveals the Divine foreknowledge, fore- 
tells, also, the future and endless destiny of all impenitent 
sinners, when this life on earth is ended. Impenitent sin- 
ners of every description, will then enter on their eternal 
state of reward, u The ivages of sin" which is " death" out- 
side of the gate of the kingdom of heaven, and in a place 
which the Bible denominates " The bottomless pit — hell, 
the lake of fire and brimstone, prepared for the devil and his 
angels ; everlasting punishment, where the worm dieth not, 
and the fire is not quenched ; the smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor 
night" 

Such Scriptures explain what is meant by the soul of a 
drunkard being lost! For the souls of all impenitent 
drunkards are thus, and hence, after the death of their 
bodies, to be numbered with lost souls in hell forever. 
And after the general resurrection, their wretched, once 
drunken bodies, will be doomed to share with their lost 



116 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

souls the torments of hell forever, where " remembrance" of 
their once " comfortable beverages''' will be like the " adder's 
sting," a never-ending tormentor of the soul — the gnawing 
" worm that never dies /" 

The reason why the above Scriptural explanation has 
been given of the future and endless state of lost souls of 
drunkards is designed, if possible, to furnish some clew to 
assist the understanding in forming an estimation of the 
value of one drunkard's lost soul, as a standard to esti- 
mate the amount of the loss of all the souls of the innu- 
merable millions of drunkards, who will be most fearfully 
swept into the pit of endless perdition, by the New York 
State Legislature's rejection of the Maine Law statute, 
should that be their decision of the momentous question 
now pending before them. 

The doctrine of the Bible question of our Saviour, 
above quoted as unanswered, is evidently to be understood 
thus : that the lost soul of one drunkard is of paramount 
estimation to the intrinsic value of this whole globe of 
earth, with all its wealth and treasures ! If, then, the liquor 
trade of the city of New York is estimated at one million 
of dollars annually, and the whole State of New York 
in like proportion, amounting, as some have computed, to 
six thousand seven hundred millions of dollars annually, 
amounting in twenty years (exclusive of any annual in- 
creased ratio) to the incomprehensible sum of one hun- 
dred and thirty-four thousands of millions of dollars, and 
all this amount arising merely from the State of New 
York ! what must be the proportionate number of dol- 
lars of all the wealth of this globe of earth during the 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 117 

same period ? And if this can be accurately estimated 
by numbers, and set in order, as the price of the soul of 
one lost drunkard, what proportion will this loss be to the 
total loss of as many millions of souls of lost drunkards as 
will, in all probability, result from the New York Legis- 
lature's rejection of the petitioned statute of the Liquor 
Law of Maine, to dry up the fountains of intemperance — 
this River of Death — which is annually sweeping down, on 
its destructive billows, hosts of lost souls of drunkards, to 
the pit of their endless abode ! 

If all total abstinence temperance societies were banished 
from this globe of earth into oblivion, and all churches were 
uprooted, Bibles burned, Sabbaths converted into seasons of 
hilarity and drunkenness, if all the rulers of nations were 
elected to offices of every description by the proportionate 
test of their amount of wealth in possession, and the great- 
est number of drunkards annually made by their means, 
and when poisoned to death were turned headlong out of 
sight, into some hole of the earth, doubtless the result of 
this state of things would soon be, that all the children 
born into the world would be taught from their cradle, 
through the days of youth and manhood, that the business 
of mankind in this life is to get wealth by making and 
selling liquor to make drunkards, to gratify all the pro- 
pensities of human nature, as sources of unrestrained 
pleasure ; and, when death presents his summons, to die 
like the brutes, because they can live no longer, and thus 
bequeath the liquor trade and craft to the next generation ! 

Such a state of society would be in perfect accordance 
with the general doctrine of the New York citizens' re- 



118 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

monstrance against the Maine Law statute, and the spirit 
breathed forth in the reasons to sustain the remonstrance, 
and also the spirit, and language, and feelings manifested, 
generally, toward all advocates for the cause of temper- 
ance and total abstinence principles, which characterize the 
providential Temperance Reformation of this nineteenth 
century. The sentiments of the remonstrance, if promo- 
ted, would multiply untold millions of drunkards, all 
doomed to death by the poison of their much loved " bev- 
erages" and when dead, and their souls lost, would swell 
the amount of loss by the liquor-trade to the estimated 
value of the proportional greater number of worlds, and 
each world estimated, by the only Saviour of mankind, at 

the PAR VALUE OF ONE DRUNKARD^ LOST SOUL ! 

Now, let the comparison be made between the gain of 
the liquor-trade craft in the State of New York, by the 
legislative rejection of the Maine Law statute, and the. 
loss to the State community by the woes of intemperance, 
issuing forth in overwhelming torrents of degradation, 
idleness, pauperism, orphanage, beggary, crime, imprison- 
ments, executions, insupportable taxes, and the priceless 
value of innumerable lost souls of drunkards ! The gain 
of the liquor-craft company would be the full amount of 
their avaricious claim of " many millions of dollars /" if 
not one hundred and thirty-four thousands of millions ; 
doubtless sufficient to bear the daily and nightly expenses 
of themselves and families on their journey in a broad 
way to the city of destruction, While, alas! their tri- 
umphant gain would swell the tide of human woe — over- 
whelming woes—- throughout the land in wretched prepara- 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 119 

tion for a battle-day, when higher powers than human 
legislation will decide whether this earth shall be under 
the predominant rule of intemperance and its woes, or 
whether the principles of temperance shall prepare this 
earth for the peaceful reign of Messiah's millennial glory. 
If temperance. petitions for a statute to suppress drunk- 
enness be audaciously rejected by the legislative authority 
of the State of New York, the Prince of Darkness would, 
doubtless, hail the event with infernal triumph ! He would 
probably take his stand in atmospheric regions, high 
above the earth, with feet on solid air, the element of his 
dominion, waving his unfurled banner of intemperance, as 
large in sheet as the Pacific Ocean, in one hand, that all 
human beings of earth might behold the wonders of his 
alcoholic "beverages" of intoxicating death, to prepare his 
adherants for an endless residence in his infernal kingdom 
of Chris tless liberty ! And holding in the other hand an 
enormous scale, to estimate by weight the number of 
millions of silver dollars equivalent to the amount of the 
ivealth of this globe of earth, the price of one poor drunk- 
ard's lost soul. And that sum-total, multiplied by the 
number of millions of drunkards made and lost, body and 
soul, by the liquor-craft company during the years of their 
unmolested prosperity, protected, fostered, and encouraged 
by the laws of an independent nation, arrayed against the 
temperance reformation of a Christian community for 
the suppression of drunkenness, but legislatively defeated ; 
the triumph of which would succeed to make and destroy 
innumerable millions of new recruits of drunkards, each 
drunkard made to enrich rum-sellers with untold millions 



120 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

of dollars, and each drunkard destroyed by poisonous, law- 
ful beverages, to enrich Satan's bottomless-pit dominions 
with legions of souls of lost drunkards, estimated in value 
to the wealth of as many worlds. 

Now, in a word, if the Hon. Legislature of the State of 
New York will condescend so far as to enact a statute, in 
form of the Law of Maine, to continue only till one of 
their number shall present to the public an accurate 
solution of the required number of millions of dollars 
equivalent to the loss of the soul of one drunkard, the 
banners of total abstinence will be unfurled, without 
molestation, till every hotel in the state shall become a 
temperance hocse, well sustained by a temperance 
traveling community, and if a drunkard is then found in 
the land of temperance independence, a comfortable 
Bridewell will be prepared for him till he will make prom- 
ises not to be broken ! 

Methinks I hear a member of the legislature respond 
thus: "You old crazy-head! Give us a satisfactory an- 
swer to the twelfth and last Reason to sustain the remon- 
strance before us, and we will do it ; for that reason 
affirms that ( Such a despotic law could not be enforced in 
the city of New York, except amid scenes of riot and blood- 
shed.'" 

If such encouragement were or could be a reality, the 
following should be the reply to the twelfth Reason of the 
remonstrance, thus : 

This formidable Reason, in distant appearance only, is 
evidently founded on mere opinion, and two dashes from 
Dr. Peck's pen, again, would turn it topsy-turvy. " Their 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AJSD GADT. 121 

* opinion' in these matters is worth nothing" And, be- 
sides, none but advocates for the craft that makes and 
kills drunkards, would contend unto blood for the liquor 
trade. And they are so far from being Jit to die, that 
they would scarcely venture into the field of battle, not 
even to save King Alcohol himself from having his head 
dashed to pieces, and his bowels poured into the mouth 
of the earth, to be swallowed up. Liquor-dealers, trffick- 
ers, and consumers, are all afraid of death. 

But there are, in reality, formidable reasons, founded on 
facts ready at hand, sufficient to drive a thousand fearful 
u opinions" into shades of darkness, when arrayed under 
banners of battle array, to perpetuate the liquor trade to 
make and destroy drunkards. Talk not of riot, nor rebel- 
lion against law, to the shedding of blood ! merely to ap- 
pal with fear, and prevent the passage of the Law of 
Maine, as a statute of the State of New York, to prevent 
drunkenness ! But, rather unite in prayer to God for the 
union of the whole people in desires that the Law of 
Maine may be the law of the State of New York, without 
riot or the shedding of blood, to prevent the execution of 
the law for the destruction of the poison that produces 
drunkenness, and all its degrading, oppressive, and de- 
structive woes ! Advocates of temperance are no cowards. 
They are descendants of independent ancestors. 

Who was afraid of the shedding of blood when the 
Declaration of the Independence of our country was pre- 
pared, signed, and proclaimed, which gave birth to our 
American freedom from oppression, and independence to 
our government and laws ? Not the subscribers of our 

11 



122 C03JJPARATIYE LOSS AN'D GAIX. 

declaration, that we would be free from despotic thrall- 
dom — not the brave sons of the land, under oppression, 
who would be called into field-action, under the unfurled 
banners of independence, proclaiming u freedom, victory, 
or death !' : Not a tremor about bloodshed was heard 
from such quarters. No ; it was the timid enemies of our 
liberty who cried out, Oh, there will be bloodshed if we 
declare war with the enemies of our freedom ! 

Similar is the present state of our country. Our whole 
land, in city and country, is oppressed by the despotism 
of the manufacture, sale, and consumption of intoxicating 
liquors, producing intemperance, the worst of all tyrants, 
the former of all drunkards, the destroyer of all good. 
Shall this enemy prevail, or be banished from the land 7 
All total abstinence advocates for temperance say, Declare 
war, drive the enemy headlong, and let the community be 
free from the burden of woes and slavery, taxes and death, 
occasioned by the despotism of intemperance ! Those 
who are opposed to total abstinence temperance societies, 
because tliey are interested in the manufacture, traffic, or 
consumption of intoxicating liquors, cry out, Oh, there 
will be loss of millions of dollars in cash, loss of real 
estate, destruction of commerce ; and more frightful still, 
u suck a despotic law could not be enforced in the city of 
York, except amid scenes of riot and bloodshed" 
From New York city, then, the torch of war is to be lit 
up, if legal opposition is made to arrest the infernal pro- 
gress of intemperance. 

Now, what if some foreign nation should send a fleet of 
ships of war, armed with one hundred thousand men, who 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 123 

in one dark night should have passed the Narrows, and 
stood in the morning in line-of-battle in the bay of New 
York, demanding submission to a foreign monarchical 
crown, or suffer consequences of an immediate discharge 
of artillery ! Would the citizens of New York cry out 
" dear, submit, or there will be bloodshed I" Or, rather, 
who would not rally to arms, like the brave firemen, at the 
alarm of the devouring flames. Telegraphic notices would 
fly with lightning speed, and bring men and arms of de- 
fense from every arsenal in city or country towns in the 
Union, without fear or inquiry whether blood was to be 
shed or not. The united voice of men, women, and chil- 
dren would be, The enemy must be conquered, and our city 
and country saved from despotic slavery ! O let the politi- 
cal war against intemperance, the worst of despotic 
tyrants, be thus signalized with bravery, union, and the 
prayers and efforts of all who wish for national deliverance 
from the infernal wiles of the curse of intemperance ! 

But let not the friends of temperance rely on their own 
strength. The cause of temperance is of God. Let this 
doctrine be well understood, that all who array themselves 
against the cause of temperance and the Temperance Refor- 
mation, will have to contend with the power of Omnipo- 
tence. God has begun to show the race of men what He 
can do for the cause of temperance by His providential in- 
terposition in its favor in the State of Maine, where intem- 
perance received its first death-blow. " Opposition to the 
liquor statute in the State of Maine is powerless! 1 '' So 
affirmed the Hon. Neal Dow, its noble-hearted projector. 
The friends of temperance in that State took hold of the 



124 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN". 

Almighty arm for help against the foe. They held on. They 
never let go the hold. And the arm in which they trusted, 
prevailed, and gave them the victory, without the shedding 
of human blood. Let the advocates of temperance in the 
Empire State, fearless of the liquor strongholds, even in 
their emporium, follow the example of the temperance 
community of the State of Maine, and the foe will soon 
quake in the city of New York. Every individual human 
being in the city of New York is at God's disposal, and 
w r ho is the intemperate hero that dares to contend with the 
Almighty. 

He who filled Egypt with plagues ; of waters turned to 
blood ; houses rilled with frogs ; dust of the earth turned to 
lice ; thunder, fire, hail, darkness, death of their first-born 
throughout the whole land ; and utter destruction of the 
monarch and his hosts in the overwhelming waters of the 
Red Sea, to save His people, can exert His same Almighty 
providential arm noio to deliver all who trust in His wisdom 
and power to save from the curse of intemperance. All 
the attributes of His infinite existence are the same now as 
in days of old. He can grasp the thunderbolt, dart the 
lightning, direct the tornado, raise the overwhelming flood, 
pour showers of hailstones of any size upon the earth, com- 
mand the devouring pestilence, raging fevers, cholera, 
blasting mildew, frosts, hunger to national starvation, and 
ten thousand other arrows of death, with the overwhelming 
vengeance of fires, and storms, and tempests, and whirl- 
winds, and plagues, and atmospheric poisons, to sweep the 
wicked down with vengeance, if they hate Him for His love, 
and harness themselves in battle-array, to defeat His mer- 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 125 

ciful instrumentalities for the reformation of human beings 
from the means of their own self-destruction by intemper- 
ance. And He will do it. He has begun to do it ; and He 
will complete the work in His own time, in His own way, 
and by the means of His own divinely appointed and ap- 
proved instrumentalities, in despite of all the boasted 
advocates of the liquor craft in the city of New York or 
on the earth, who have power to kill and to destroy them- 
selves by the use of intoxicating liquors ? 

IN CONCLUSION, 

The Legislature of the State of New York, like the 
people who have elected them to office, are divided into 
nearly equal lines of conflicting political array on the sub- 
ject of temperance. Their diversity of movements in re- 
lation to an alleged illegality of the election of Col. E. L. 
Snow, a total abstinence temperance member, after he had 
occupied a seat in the Assembly Chamber, officially, by a 
majority of votes in his favor, during a considerable portion 
of his term of office (nearly one half), disclosed the fact 
that the Assembly were pro and con on temperance, man 
to man, face to face, argument against argument, resolu- 
tion against resolution, amendment against amendment, 
vote against vote, motion to reconsider, and motion against 
it ! And the final dismission of that member from his 
seat in the Legislature, in an unprecedented manner, with- 
out attempting any satisfactory reasons to his constituents, 
justly merits the appellation of A Legislative amputation 
of a temperance member of the Legislative body, to save the 
whole assembly from the gangrene of total abstinence prin- 



126 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

ciples so far, it is greatly to be feared, as to prevent a total 
abstinence majority of votes in favor of the Maine Laio 
statute, which that member, independently in his seat, law- 
fully obtained, and illegally and shamefully lost, would 
have secured. # 

Such legislative " Snow" squalls, during a whole night, 
which required the aid of Doctors Brandy, Wine, Porter, 
and several other like cfo'shonorable lobby-officers of State, 
with their strong amputating instruments of dissection, to 
mangle off the bone and sinews of such a temperance man 
as Col. E. L. Snow, can never be legislatively requited, 
short of the unequivocal enactment of the Maine Law as 
a statute of the State of New York, without fail or delay. 

Had it not been for that unprecedented act of the legis- 
lative amputation of an honorable member of the House 
of Assembly from his legal seat, this paragraph would 
have been concluded in relation to the final legislative de- 
cision of the temperance question on the Maine Law as 
follows, namely : 

On which side of the great controversy on temperance, 
in answer to the thousands of conflicting petitions and 
remonstrances before them, the Hon. Legislature will 
finally decide, must not be anticipated with sanguinity, 
nor intense importunity. The Legislature, of course, are 
as independent, in their official capacity, to decide on ques- 
tions before them, as the sovereign people possessed, and 
officially exercised, in their elective franchise, in appoint- 
ing legislative officers of State. Consequently, a legisla- 
tive official decision must be waited for with patience, 
hope, and prayer, by all lovers of temperance. 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 127 

But, in an emergency of such vast importance as the 
forthcoming crisis presents, on the approaching legislative 
decision of the question in which millions of free citizens 
are deeply interested, the humble author of the foregoing 
Historical Reminiscences will venture to propose to all 
the advocates of total abstinence from all intoxicating 
liquors as a common beverage, whose names are before 
the Hon. Legislature of the State of New York, in humble 
petition for legislative aid, in the political war of exter- 
mination, for the overthrow of the despotic and destruc- 
tive government and power of the horrid liquor-craft mo- 
nopoly, that, after the example of Queen Esther of ancient 
time, the importance of the whole subject of their respec- 
tive petitions, now pending before the Legislature, be 
solemnly referred, by united, humble, fervent, persevering 
prayer to Almighty God for the interposition of His sove- 
reign wisdom and power. That He would pity all who 
are endangered by the prevalence and destructive ravages 
of intemperance ; that He would dispose the present Legis- 
lature (His servants, as office-bearers in the nation to which 
His Church has fled, as into a "wilderness" for Divine pro- 
tection), to listen to the grievances of the petitioners, who 
have taken the humiliating burden upon them, to acknowl- 
edge the inefficiency of all their instrumentalities and pow- 
ers of moral suasion, to cope with their sagacious, deadly 
enemy, intemperance, clad in the habiliment of legal pow- 
er to decoy, kill, and destroy his victims of infernal selec- 
tion ; and to answer their humble petitions and prayers 
for legislative aid, by the enactment of the Liquor Law 
of Maine, as a statute of the State of New York, to quell 



128 COMPAKATITE LOSS AND GAIN. 

the ravages of the common enemy, until he shall be de- 
stroyed so effectually, as never more to be the cause of 
curse and death in the land which the Lord has providen- 
tially appointed and given to the persecuted Puritan, and 
the oppressed of all nations, who seek in this western world 
a peaceful home for themselves and their posterity. 

And, especially now, in this national emergency, when 
intemperance, the great " enemy'''' of God and man, has 
" come in like the billows of an overwhelming " flood," to 
destroy millions of the human race by intoxicating liquors, 
the curse of consummate evils, degradation, crime, and 
horrors of endless death, that " the spirit of the Lord" 
who, evidently, in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, and 
most gracious promise, has lifted up the standard of the 
Temperance Keformation of this nineteenth century, and 
hitherto has prospered it, by such various instrumentalities 
as He has been pleased to give and to bless ; even while 
the enemy still unfurls the banner of destruction, in oppo- 
sition to all prospects of human power to conquer, wxnild 
now interpose His own almighty power and wield the 
sword of His own eternal Truth, till all the people of this 
land shall tremble. Till all shall cry mightily for help from 
heaven and help from earth. Till Legislatures in every 
State of the American Confederation shall enact the most 
stringent laws and statutes against intemperance, that 
the total abstinence lovers of temperance in the State of 
Maine ever thought of. Till the Congress of the United 
States, also, shall have their eyes fully open to see that 
the best interests of the whole American Confederacy 
must of course be promoted by the same police national 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 129 

laws against intemperance, that are essentially needful 
to secure the best interest of a State government, which 
is nothing otherwise than a less portion of the same 
general confederation, a limb of the same body, which 
must stand or fall, live or die together. Then will the 
whole American Union adopt the reasoning of Judge 
Grier, of the United States Court, whose decision is on 
imperishable record, thus : " Police laws for the preserva- 
tion of health, prevention of crime, and protection of the pub- 
lic welfare, must of necessity have full and free operation, 
according to the exigency that requires their interference. If 
a loss of revenue should accrue to the United States from a 
diminished consumption of ardent spirits, she will be the 
gainer a thousand-fold in the health, ivealth, and happiness 
of the people /" 

O let it be the prayer — the daily, constant, fervent, and 
persevering prayer of all lovers of God, and of the religion 
of the Holy Bible — the prayer of all lovers of humanity, 
of morality, of honest industry, peace, and prosperity of 
the great family of mankind — yea, let it be the prayer, 
accompanied with the utmost unremitted exertions, of all 
w T ho have, or shall have, enlisted under the banner of total 
abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, for the purpose of 
exterminating inJemperance from this world, that the God 
of sovereign rule in heaven, on earth, and throughout im- 
mensity, would make bear His all- victorious arm of wis- 
dom, mercy, and omnipotence, for the safety, protection, 
guidance, and effectual consummation of the Temperance 
Reformation of this nineteenth century. That He would 
prepare a temperance generation on this globe of earth for 



130 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

the fulfillment of that apocalyptical, divinely revealed, em- 
blematical display of the victory of the last great battle- 
day of the Lord. Then the adorable Saviour of lost men, 
who was once dead on the cross of Calvary, but is now 
alive upon His mediatorial throne, will appear in providen- 
tial array to make war with His enemies. Mounted upon 
the white horse of victory. With flaming eyes of divine 
omniscience, like fire. With crowns of various descriptions, 
gold, thorns, and glory on His head ; denoting the eternal 
majesty of King of kings, the humiliation of suffering 
manhood for a sinful world, and the triumphant glory of 
universal conqueror. With vestments dipped in blood, to 
show that He could still be merciful to the penitent, or just 
to pour vengeance on His incorrigible foes. Bearing an un- 
known name of infinite divinity. Accompanied with armies 
of heaven clad in white, in cavalcade array, upon w T hite 
horses of victory, with a sharp sword of eternal truth, the 
inspired Word of God, proceeding from His mouth to 
smite the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron, " and 
tread the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Al- 
mighty God." Such a day is predicted. Such a day will 
come. And, when it comes, this world will be divested of 
intemperance, and the liquor-craft monopoly, which now 
rages, will be totally overthrown. Then, if not before, the 
shout s of victory shall roar with trumpet sound, with echo 
and reverberation over the earth, from the rising to the 
setting sun, giving to God all the glory for the Temperance 
Reformation of this nineteenth century, and for the sal- 
vation of all who are redeemed from the curse of intem- 
perance and from all sin. 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAE5T. 131 

Thus far the outlines of this History of the Temperance 
Reformation was written and concluded before the Legis- 
lature of the State of New York, in 1852, had formed 
their decision on the question of the Maine Liquor Law 
statute. And it is with deep regret that this final line is 
subsequently compelled to be subjoined, that the legis- 
lative question above stated was finally settled, by a ma- 
jority of votes against the enactment of the Maine Law 
statute ; thus giving the liquor -craft monopoly all the rights 
and immunities claimed in their system of remonstrance, 
for the suppression of the alleged evils of what is called 
temperance fanaticism ! 

But let not the friends of temperance be dismayed. 
Jehovah, the God of the Bible, the Supreme Ruler of the 
Universe, the great Lord of Creation, Providence, and 
Grace, is also the God of Temperance. He is the first 
cause, and will be the last end of the Temperance Refor- 
mation of this nineteenth century, and all His foes will be 
put to shame. 

Intemperance is a work of Satan for the destruction of 
the bodies and souls of men. The great enemy has come 
in like a flood. The Temperance Reformation is the Lord's 
standard lifted up against the enemy. The majority of 
the members of the last Legislature of the State of New 
York have proved themselves to be on the side of the 
enemy of God and man, in favor of the enemy's stratagem 
of destruction, and they will have their reward! But, let 
it be the hope, and prayer, and united exertion of all the 
friends of God, and humanity, and of temperance, that the 
next Legislature of the State of New York may be com- 



132 COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 

posed of such men, by the elective franchise of the sover- 
eign people, irrespective of all fears of consequences, as shall 
not hesitate to deal out destruction to the craft of liquor 
monopoly, the abettors of which boast of their many mil- 
lions of dollars in cash, real estate investments, and stock 
of poison on hand, in readiness to make and destroy mil- 
lions of drunkards, without being able to compute the true 
estimated value of one of their souls, nor of their own 
souls, in equal danger of destruction. 

And whether the writer of this book of temperance 
reminiscences be alive or dead on the legislative session 
of the State of New York, in 1853, let it be read and re- 
membered, that in the seventy-seventh year of his age, he 
has conscientiously taken this liberty of forewarning his 
countrymen of the next Hon. Legislature, whoever they 
may be, that they follow not the example of their late 
legislative predecessors, by turning a deaf ear to petitions 
for the Maine Liquor Law statute, until they first com- 
pute the Saviour's estimated value of the soul of one lost 
drunkard, equivalent in dollars and cents to the amount of 
the entire wealth of this globe of earth ; and this amount 
multiplied by the most accurate number that can be ascer- 
tained of the drunkards made by intoxicating liquors, and 
lost by death in this State of New York, during the period 
of one year from the day and date of the decision of the 
New York State Legislature of 1852, in the city of Al- 
bany, when they rejected the petitions of hundreds of thou- 
sands for the statute of the Law of Maine, and by such re- 
jection secured to the liquor-craft monopoly the full amount 
of their own estimated claim of one hundred millions of 



COMPARATIVE LOSS AND GAIN. 133 

dollars for the city of New York, and a proportionate 
claim of many millions of dollars for the whole State, all 
once at fearful hazard of loss by the adoption of the Maine 
Law statute, but now, with triumphant rejoicing, is secure 
from fear of hazard by the laws of man ! — but (shall it be 
added), fearless of the judgments of Almighty God by the 
loss of priceless souls ! 

Meanwhile, let all the powers of moral suasion be re- 
sumed with renewed vigilance and assiduity, trusting God 
to bring to pass, by his own appointed instrumentalities, 
his own purposes for the overthrow of intemperance, and 
the total destruction of all the works of Satan. 

12 



CHAPTER VTL 

[The Fiest Temperance Address, verbatim from the original manuscript, de- 
livered August 25, 1808, by the author of these reminiscences, before the first 
kno^vn Temperance Society of our land or world, and repeated, by special request, 
before the same Society, at their annual meeting, 1543, in the Church, near the 
place of the first organization, at "which time the Parent Society re-organized on 
the unanimous adoption of the Total Abstinence American pledge.] 

The first Temperance Address, verbatim from the origi- 
nal manuscript, delivered August 25, 1S08, by the author 
of these historical reminiscences, before the first known tem- 
perance society of our land or world, and repeated, by re- 
quest, before the same society, at their annual meeting, 
1843, in the nearest house of public worship to the place 
of the first organization, in connection with an address of 
more recent date on the " Woes of Intemperance," at 
which time and place the Parent Society re-organized, on 
the unanimous adoption of the Total Abstinence American 
pledge, witnessed by a numerous assembly. 

ADDRESS. 

Mr. President : Every institution which tends to en- 
courage virtue, promote morality, and suppress vice, is of 
importance to mankind, and ought to command due re- 
spect and esteem. Many institutions of this description 
are now extant. Some of them have proved successful in 
reforming the vicious, and others have been more unsuc- 
cessful. 



FIRST TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 135 

In this enlightened age, and in this free country, where 
every man is at full liberty to adopt that system for the 
regulation of his own conduct which he deems most con- 
genial with his feeling and interest, it is hardly supposa- 
ble, that any one will rashly and precipitately agree in the 
adoption of any system until he has first surveyed its 
boundaries, developed its interior principles, and weighed 
the sum total of the consequences which will be likely to 
result from its operation. To think and act for himself, 
both in matters civil and religious, are privileges which 
every man claims as peculiar to his nature. 

Whenever a new institution is ushered into the w r orld, 
the first thing to be attended to is, to examine the basis 
upon which the superstructure is reared, to investigate its 
pretended object, and trace its leading features from the 
original source to the effect which it has on society. If the 
basis on which it is founded is not inconsistent with reason 
and divine revelation; if its apparent object is to reclaim 
what is wrong in man, and stimulate to a line of conduct 
congenial with the true happiness, the interest, and pros- 
perity of society ; and, if there is ground of probability 
that these will be the effects which it will produce in the 
operation, the conclusion must terminate in its favor, and 
its adoption will be the voice of philanthropy and of wis- 
dom. 

The formation of this Union Temperate Society in its 
present state, is without a precedent and without a rival ! 
It is the only institution of the kind now extant, within the 
limits of our knowledge. The institution is now upon the 
stage, for the investigation of all who wish to become ac- 



136 VINDICATION OF TEMPERANCE PRINCIPLES. 

quainted with it ; and its virtual language to the community 
is, examine for yourselves, and see whether it is worthy 
of your attention and patronage, or whether it merits your 
disapprobation and deserved odium. Espousing its pro- 
fessed principles, and confidently believing that its object 
is to promote the good of society, I appear before you, 
this day, in vindication of the institution now under con- 
sideration. 

The formation of this society has excited the attention 
of curious inquirers, the result of which has already been 
a diversity of opinions relative to its effects upon the con- 
duct of its adherents. Some view it as a deprivation of 
the liberties peculiar to the appetite, and as an infringe- 
ment on the natural rights of man ; while others turn the 
whole subject into ridicule, and make sport of the insti- 
tution which inculcates reasonable restraint. To bring all 
men to think alike on every subject can never be expected, 
while the human heart is governed and biased by such a 
variety of motives and propensities. In common with 
others of my fellow-men, I claim the privilege of adopting 
sentiments for myself, and am willing that others should 
enjoy the same privilege. 

In my view of things, the basis on which the institution 
under consideration is founded, is a conviction of the un- 
happy consequences resulting to society from the prevalent 
and, in many instances, the intemperate use of spirituous 
liquors. To remedy this long-established and deep-rooted 
evil ; to eradicate it from society \ render it odious and de- 
tectable ; and to substitute temperance, sobriety, and vir- 
tue in its room, are the professed objects of this institution. 



THEIR PROFESSED OBJECT IS GOOD. 137 

To what degree these objects will be attainable, or what 
w 7 ill be their utility and effect upon the respective members 
of the society, or the community at large, time alone can 
determine. 

That the professed object of the institution is good, will 
appear, First, from a consideration of the unhappy conse- 
quences resulting to individuals and to society at large 
from the intemperate use of spirituous liquors; and, 
Secondly, from the happy consequences resulting from a 
life of temperance and sobriety. 

When we look around us, and take a view of society at 
large, we discover a numerous train of evils existing, which, 
to all human probability, are drowning many of the hu- 
man race in ruin, or leading them onward in the road to 
perdition. Tracing the sources of these evils up to their 
fountain, w r e find the greatest part of them originating 
from an intemperate use of spirituous liquors. It does not 
fall within my province to point out the effects of spirit- 
uous liquors upon the human body, in the production of 
an universal debilitation of the nervous and muscular sys- 
tem, until life falls a prey to disease and death. This is a 
truth which can be investigated to better advantage by 
those who are versed in the theory of physic. 

The unhappy consequences resulting to individuals, and 
to the community at large, from the frequent and intem- 
perate use of spirituous liquors, are evincible from outw r ard 
circumstances, w<hich those of but ordinary abilities are 
capable of discerning. In recognizing past occurrences of 
life which have fallen within the compass of our knowl- 
edge, there are few, perhaps, but who can advert to mel- 



138 INTEMPERATE HABITS, HOW FORMED. 

ancholy instances of the ruinous and destructive effects of 
spirituous liquors, in the loss of character, of property, of 
happiness, and, finally, the loss of life itself. 

How many of the human race, who were once temperate 
and industrious ; whose fair estates have been earned by 
the sweat of their brow, have fallen victims to poverty, 
shame, disgrace, and to death, by abandoning the principles 
of temperance, and by giving themselves over to the bru- 
tal force of ungovernable appetite ! Though in the first 
formation of this appetite, there was but little apparent 
danger of such awful degeneracy and ruin, yet the seeds 
of destruction began to spring and grow the moment they 
had contracted an appetite for regular morning drams. 
This is generally the first beginning of intemperance. The 
habit of taking morning drams soon creates an appetite, 
which, being fostered and fed, grows like the noxious plant, 
into a state of downright intemperance. From this small 
beginning, many have generally proceeded from step to 
step, till at length their appetite for spirituous liquor, over- 
powered every other faculty, and they gave themselves 
over to the force of intoxication. 

View a person of this description, and what is his situ- 
ation % What is his character 1 What is his prospect of 
happiness, either in this life, or in the life to come ? How- 
ever industrious, frugal, and thriving he might have been, 
yet now he soon discovers the ruinous effects of intemper- 
ance. The first loss he sustains is character. This is gone 
almost at one stroke. The next loss is property. Neglect- 
ing the proper and necessary attention to the business of 
life, if a farmer, every thing around him soon wears the 



RESULT OF MOENING DRAMS. 139 

appearance of ruin ; if a mechanic, customers forsake his 
shop ; if an attorney, no client will risk a cause at his dis- 
posal ; if a physician, the sick will not venture their lives 
in his hand ; and if a minister of the gospel, the wicked 
will despise him, his hearers will withdraw from him, his 
friends will forsake him, and the sacred desk will declare 
that he is not a teacher sent from God ! In all these in- 
stances, the loss of property is an inevitable consequence. 
The sources of 'revenue being cut off, the capital stock will 
soon depreciate, and scatter into oblivion. Thus the mind 
is filled with anxiety and perplexity — happiness is gone ; 
families are deprived of the necessary means of subsist- 
ence ; diseases hovering round, light upon the vital part ; 
death at last closes the scene ! And what reception will 
be met with in the future world, let Divine Inspiration de- 
clare, and it will inform us that drunkards are denounced 
among the black catalogue of the enemies of holiness, who 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

The unhappy consequences of an intemperate use of 
spirituous liquors, are felt by the community at large, as 
well as by individuals. How often is the peace of society 
disturbed by unhappy quarrels, brawls, contentions, and 
even assault and battery, which sometimes end in blood- 
shed and death, and which owe their existence to the ef- 
fect of spirituous liquors ! Such cases occupy a great por- 
tion of time in our courts of justice, which cost the com- 
munity at large a heavy tax, and sometimes the loss of 
citizens. Instance the murder of John Scott in Catskill, 
which was solely the effects of spirituous liquors. After 
spending the evening in filling and emptying the jovial 



140 BLOODSHED AND DEATH; 

glass, a quarrel at length arose, about a pipe and tobacco, 
which terminated in bloodshed and in death ! Without 
enumerating the immense sums of money annually and 
daily expended by the community for the importation of 
spirituous liquors, instances of the above description are 
sufficient to evince the ruinous and destructive conse- 
quences resulting from the intemperate use of the fluid 
poison. 

If, therefore, the institution of this Union Temperate So- 
ciety is founded on a conviction of the injury done to com- 
munity by the intemperate use of spirituous liquor ; if its. 
professed object is to save its adherents from the path that 
leads to intemperance and destruction ; and if its plan of 
operation is such that in any probability it will be likely 
to rescue even one from impending danger, or to save one 
from the contraction of a habit so ruinous in its conse- 
quences, the balance must be found in favor of the institu- 
tion, and it must be pronounced good. If so, it is worthy 
of the attention and patronage of all who become acquaint- 
ed with it, and its utility and influence ought to be diffused 
through the community at large. 

Secondly, the happy consequences resulting to society 
from a strict adherence to its principles, will abundantly 
compensate all pains that may be taken for its publicity 
and enlargement. The institution inculcates an entire 
abolition of the use of ardent, distilled spirits, prescribes a 
number of useful and beneficial substitutes, and directs to 
measures to stimulate its adherents to a strict observance 
of its rules. Should its influence upon society prove even 
in a small degree commensurate to its professed principle? 



HOW TO BE HAPPY. 141 

and object, advantages will be derived, not only of a 
pecuniary nature, but also such as will render society 
happy. The moneys which may be saved will enable 
the society to adopt such measures for disseminating use- 
ful and important knowledge, as w r ould do honor to any 
institution whatever. How much more happy is society, 
when young and old can divert their minds and improve 
their understandings at the same time, by the perusal of 
useful, instructive, and religious books, than, when they 
can be contented only in a confused company at the tav- 
ern or grog-shop, where all kinds of vicious habits are con- 
tracted, and nothing obtained for the good of body or of 
soul ! A strict adherence to the principles of this institu- 
tion will tend to reform those who have been addicted to 
intemperance, and instead of seeking diversions and hap- 
piness from the bottom of their glass in the company of 
grog-drinkers,* they will hereby be stimulated to seek for 
diversions and happiness in new sources of enjoyment. 
Should their attention be taken off from strong drink, and 
an appetite be contracted for the acquisition of useful and 
important knowledge, the advantage would be almost 
incalculable. These, at least, may be some of the good 
things which may be hoped for and expected from a strict 
observance of the laws of this institution. Should these 
objects be obtained, and their influence on society be thus 
happy, we shall be favored with additional evidence of the 
utility and importance of the institution. 

From a review of the foregoing remarks, we are led to 
. the conclusion, that the only way to render this insti- 

* Rum and water, with a toast in it, was formerly called " grog." 



142 DANGER OF MODERATE DRINKING. 

tution respectable, and cause it to become beneficial to 
society, is to attend to its principles and adhere to its 
dictates, by using every exertion that may be made for 
contracting the habit of temperance among ourselves, and 
encouraging it in others. It is thought to be a hard 
thing by some, to deny themselves entirely the use of 
ardent spirits; but what disadvantage can any person 
calculate from such abstinence? To a person who has 
never, by regular drinking, contracted an appetite for 
liquor, entire abstinence can be no deprivation of self- 
gratification at all ! 

And should a person plead that he considers it his 
privilege to gratify his appetite in the moderate use of 
ardent spirits, there may be more danger of an increase 
of appetite than he is aware of! He may be on the very 
brink of falling into a state of intemperance. No person 
becomes intemperate instantaneously. An appetite for 
strong drink, which generally ends in intemperance, is con- 
tracted by the regular habit of constant drinking ! Our 
institution devises an effectual remedy for this growing 
evil in a safe and reasonable restraint. If such restraint 
were productive of no apparent advantage to society, it 
can surely do no harm. But advantages may safely be 
calculated, both to individuals and to society at large. 
And hence appears the importance of a strict adherence to 
the institution. We are al] liable to the failings and 
frailties of human nature; and none knows but what God, 
in His providence, has devised and superintended the 
erection of this institution, to save some of us from unfore- 
seen danger and impending ruin ! 



GUARD AGAINST EVIL.^ 113 

It would be an unheard-of instance, if every individual 
person, who has or shall subscribe to this institution, 
should be entirely faultless. Perfection dwells not be- 
low. It is desirable that all should conduct with becom- 
ing propriety, and adopt and pursue that standard of recti- 
tude which will do honor to the institution, save their 
characters unspotted from reproach, and save themselves 
from future destruction. But let not the enemies of the 
institution say (because some of its members deviate from 
the principles they profess) that the institution is not good! 
This would be discovering an incongruity unbecoming the 
character of man. For if the utility of all institutions 
was measured by this rule, not one of them would stand. 
Not even the holy institution of the Christian religion 
would be exempt from the general charge ; for many of 
its adherents, by profession, are not what they profess to 
be ! And even the family of the Saviour would fall under 
censure, for a Judas Iscariot was among them. 

To guard against the evil propensities in man, reduce 
them to a compliance with good rules, or render the 
impenitent offenders public examples, for the restraint 
of others, discipline is necessary in every institution. 
Where this is neglected, and offenses are committed with 
impunity, nothing advantageous to society can be ex- 
pected from this or any other institution on the earth. If 
we, my friends, have a desire that good may result from 
the formation of this society, then let us pay a proper 
attention to that line of conduct which will be the most 
likely to insure success. Let every member consider 
that much of the good, the happiness, and prosperity of 



144 IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION. 

society depends on his own individual conduct. And let 
us all consider, that for all our conduct we must give 
account to God, who will bring every work into judg- 
ment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or 
whether it be evil ! 



CHAPTER Yin. 

[An Address on Temperance, delivered on the East Line of Ballston, February 
26, 1833, and repeated the same day, by request, in the Baptist Church in Balls- 
ton Spa.] 

ON THE BREAKING- OF A RUM-JUG BY A REVOLUTIONARY 
SOLDIER. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Agreeably to the recommendation of the National Tem- 
perance Society, and the concurrence of its auxiliaries, as 
far as their pleasure is known on the subject, this 26th 
day of February has been designated as a time to be de- 
voted to temperance meetings simultaneously, by the 
friends of the cause in the American churches, and through- 
out the American Republic. Ardent desires have been 
manifested, that all laudable measures might be adopted 
to arouse the friends of temperance to activity and per- 
severance in the cause, where auxiliaries are formed, and 
that where there are none, in cities, towns, or villages, 
no pains should be spared in endeavors to bring the people 
in such delinquent places to feel the importance of a gene- 
ral concurrence, as co-workers with God and the Ameri- 
can people, in a successful warfare against the intemperate 
powers of darkness. For this purpose we have assem- 
bled in this place to-day, and by appointment the duty 
devolves on me to address you on the subject which has 
called us together. 

13 



146 SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION. 

The first point to which I would direct your attention is 
one to which I have recently been a witness, and which 
has excited personal emotions not known nor even antici- 
pated on the day when an appointment was made for my 
address to you in this place. And although it is a subject 
of peculiar delicacy, and involves a high degree of personal 
responsibility, in an attempt to do justice to the delinea- 
tion of an act which, though "done in a corner" must, and 
ought to be "proclaimed upon the house-top ;" yet I hesi- 
tate not, with deference to the feelings of all who are per- 
sonally interested, thus publicly to make known and de- 
clare the circumstances of the facts to which this article 
alludes. 

My venerable father, who was a Revolutionary soldier, 
and fought for the independence of his country, yet lives, 
and is now just entered upon the eightieth year of his age. 
He is well known to have been one of the early class of 
settlers in Ballston, and is now a resident on the premises 
which he has occupied nearly fifty years. It is also well 
known to the public in this region, that his habit for many 
years has been to use spirituous liquors as a common drink, 
when, and as he pleased, without binding himself by the 
rules of abstinence to any degree of restriction whatever. 
And although he has never deserved the appellation of a 
drunkard, yet a free use of spirituous liquors in a manner 
which may be termed constant, and sometimes hard drink- 
ing, has characterized his years of age and decrepitude, and 
it was greatly to be feared, would accompany him to the 
grave. 

Since the special charge of making provision for my 



A PAINFUL REQUIREMENT. 147 

aged parents has devolved on me by personal contract, 
under bonds of indefeasible indemnity in the use of their 
property, it has been required of me to furnish liquor as 
well as food. Painful as this requirement has been to 
me, I have complied on all occasions, with the same ap- 
parent cheerfulness that I made other provisions. But 
there was a vast discrimination in my own mind. Hence 
I made it a subject of daily, secret prayer, that God would 
be pleased to interpose, and move him to abandon a habit 
so pernicious in its nature, and so destructive in its conse- 
quences. I made it a rule, also, when I found any thing 
striking in my periodicals on the subject of temperance, to 
read it to him, accompanied with such remarks as I was 
capable of making, with a view to rivet the subject on his 
mind, all which he uniformly received with kind feelings; 
but if any reply was made, the amount was, that (as he 
would term it), " a temperate use of spirituous liquors was 
necessary to his comfort, and beneficial in his age and in- 
firmities." He appeared perfectly satisfied, if the cheapest 
kind of liquor, even whiskey, was provided, and agreeably 
to his desire, this was kept for his use at his own discre- 
tion. 

This was precisely the state of things on the 15th inst. 
(Feb. 1833), when it was publicly announced that an ad- 
dress on temperance would be delivered at this time and 
place. The next day I cast my eyes on an article in the 
"New York Observer;' of February 9th, 1833, entitled "A 
Speech to the Point" the amount of which was a ludicrous 
(though doubtless a . sincere and well-meant) address of a 
laboring man in England, who gave an account, at a tern- 



148 "a speech to the point.' 

perance meeting, of the circumstances of his reformation 
from habits of intemperance to a life of sobriety ; the con- 
sequent blessings which he had experienced, and his earn- 
est entreaty that others of intemperate habits would fol- 
low his example. [As a copy of that reformed drunkard's 
experience, published in the Observer as above stated, has 
been preserved, it may be gratifying to readers of these 
Eeminiscences to have the anecdote of the " Speech to the 
Point" inserted in the words of the author, and in the style 
of the publisher, both for the amusement and benefit of all 
who may read, which is verbatim et literatim et punctua- 
tim, as follows :] 

" A Speech to the Point. — At the second annual meeting of 
the York (Eng.) Temperance Society, held on the 18th Nov., a 
laboring man, a member of the Rev. Hugh Stowell's congregation, 
came forward, and after standing for some length of time, looking 
very blank, as though he was not accustomed to look so large an 
assembly in the face, and seeming as though he would not be able 
to speak a word, began his statement by saying, ' Ah've been one 
ot t' greatest drunkards and wicketest sinners, at ivver God let 
live.' He then detailed the means which were rendered efficacious 
in his reformation, and went on to observe, \ Fooaks says temper- 
ance societies does no good ; but let them come to mah house, and 
they'll see whether or not. Ah, now ev as nice a cheer as ony 
man need wish to sit down on (laughter). Ah've plenty o' meat 
in the house ; and plenty o' brass in the pocket ; and Ah've a good 
pig a the sty (loud laughter) ; an what's best of all, they're all 
paid for, and not a man in Salford can come and axe me for a 
farthing (applause). 

"' Fooaks says temperance societies does no good; but they 
sud come and ax mah wife, and she would tell them whether or 
not (loud laughter). Ah used to be, ah hated ommost to see her, 
and would ha' killed her if ah durst ; she could get nought to put 



A KEFOEMED DRUNKARD. 149 

on; ah nivver had ony comfort o' her. Xow, there isn't a man i' 
all Salford loves his rvife better, nor ah do (much laughter), nor 
has more comfort o' her. 

" 'Fooaks says temperance societies does no good; but they sud 
come and see mah children' (loud laughter). After describing 
the improvement in their condition, the poor man concluded with 
a recommendation to others to do as he had done." — New York 
Observer, Feb. 9, 1833. 

Considering the piece well calculated to make an im 
pression, I immediately went into the room, where mj 
father sat alone, read it to ray father, and then observed, 
"Father, this is a speech to the point indeed 7" "Indeed 
it is" was his reply, with tears rolling from his eyes. 
" Well," said I, " this address of the laboring man will 
class with an account, published some years ago, of a man 
who had long indulged in habits of intemperance, till his 
appetite forced him, uniformly, to awake and rise in the 
slumbering hours of night, to take a draught from his 
bottle, and then he could sleep comfortably till morning. 
After rising one night, as usual, and taking his bottle in 
hand, instead of drinking he set it down, and hi substance 
thus addressed it : ' Must I forever be a slave to you ? 
And must you be my destroyer forever'? No. 1*11 put 
an end to this work forever.' Thus saying, he instantly 
dashed his bottle to pieces, and ever after was a temper- 
ate man." 

To this account the old gentleman listened with deep 

and solemn attention. I proceeded : " Now, dear father," 

said I, " public notice was given yesterday, at the close 

. of the funeral discourse in the school-house on East Line, 

that on the 26th instant I would deliver an Address on 



150 THE RUM JTG BROKEN. 

temperance at that place. How much strength, and 
energy, and effect would it add to that address, if I could 
be able to announce that my father had thus disposed of 
his jug of whisky? * Bring it here J said the old man, 
promptly, 'and I will do it?" My mother, wife, and a 
niece were requested to take their seat in the room, where 
the old gentleman sat, after having had his noon-nap, and 
had been smoking his pipe by the side of a wood fire, burn- 
ing briskly. The half-gallon stone jug, nearly half full of 
the poisonous beverage, was next presented in presence 
of the family. " Move them andirons apart," said the old 
man, " and set the jug between them." It was done as he 
directed. Sitting in his chair, he took his large and heavy 
self-made hard- wood cane by the smallest end with both 
hands, and after looking earnestly and silently at the ob- 
ject before him, during a few moments, as though he was 
deliberating on the consequences of the crisis, he thus ad- 
dressed the jug, " Pit be a slave to you no longer." Thus 
saying, with his might, he smote the jug with the head of 
his cane, which dashed it to pieces into the fire. As the 
contents flamed up the chimney in lucid demonstration 
that the poisonous composition was made to burn and not 
to drink, he exclaimed, " That is well done, Pll never drink 
another drop of spirituous liquor during my life" The 
same hour he subscribed his name to the Family Temper- 
ance Pledge with his own trembling hand, where it still 
remains, in the second volume of Scott's Family Bible in 
my house, dated, "February 16, 1833." 

This scene produced impressions not easily to be de- 
scribed. After some pause, I observed, " This is an im- 



THE TEMPERANCE PLEDGE SIGXED. 151 

portant period ; for this I have prayed, and the answer has 
been granted in a time and manner which may be im- 
proved for the benefit of mankind. "Will you give me 
leave, father, to make such use of this transaction as I may 
deem proper, for the promotion of the cause of temper- 
ance V The reply was, with much earnestness and affec- 
tion, " Lebbeus, I have done my duty ; make such use of it 
as you please." The use which I requested and obtained 
leave to make was, merely to be permitted, publicly, to 
state the facts and circumstances as above related, in hope 
that those who hear to-day, and all who may become ac- 
quainted with the subject hereafter, may be encouraged 
and excited to use all laudable endeavors to persuade con- 
sumers of spirituous liquors to abandon the destructive 
habit, lest by it their reputation, and property, and happi- 
ness, and life, and souls, are destroyed forever. Such is 
now my presentation, accompanied with my most ardent 
desires and fervent prayers. 

An intemperate neighbor of mine, several years ago 
told me, that he could not restrain himself from the use 
of rum ; the thing was impossible. To convince him of 
his mistake, I thus stated : Suppose, in your presence, I 
should put a sufficient quantity of arsenic into your jug of 
rum to produce certain death by the use of one table 
spoonful, and there was no other liquor within one hundred 
miles of you. How long would your jug stand by you, 
before you drank of it ? He acknowledged that under such 
circumstances, he should never taste of its contents. In 
this case a full conviction was produced, that nothing was 
wanting to refrain from the use of strong drink but a reso- 



152 TWO DRUNKARDS DROWNED. 

lution ; and the want of this baffled all conviction, and the 
man continued to be a drunkard. A few years after, in 
attempting to cross the river Hudson in a boat, on his way 
home from a store with his jug of liquor, and a non com- 
pos mentis drunken son with him, both in a state of intox- 
ication, a high wind upset the boat. His jug was saved in 
a bag tied fast in the boat ; but the drunkards were both 
drowned ! 

Intemperance is the occasion of a great proportion of the 
calamities which befall mankind on earth. How many 
robust and healthy constitutions have been utterly ruined 
by this vice ! How many men of talents, genius, educa- 
tion, and respectability, have fallen a prey to intemperance ! 
"When once captivated and enslaved by this vicious habit, 
how soon is their strength impaired ; their reasoning 
powers enervated; their judgment perverted; and all their 
mental faculties disordered, while diseases of various kinds 
commence their prey upon the vitals, and hasten a prema- 
ture exit from this to the eternal world. In every instance 
of this nature, loss is sustained by the community. All 
those natural and acquired abilities which promised use- 
fulness to society, when perverted by intemperance, are 
eventually lost. By every such untimely end, community 
sustains the loss of a member, and individuals deplore the 
loss of a relative under circumstances of deep distress, 
followed by ever painful recollection. 

How wretched is the state of domestic life, when the 
head of a family becomes an habitual drunkard! Con- 
template for a moment the distinguishing features of this 
miserable man. Weakened in intellect, morose in temper, 



MISERIES OF A DRUNK ARD ? S WIFE. 153 

lost to all sense of honor and shame, a dread to the wife 
of his bosom, an unmerciful tyrant to his defenseless chil- 
dren, while the alternate stupidity, or savage fierceness, of 
his countenance, his folly, or raving madness, renders him 
an object most odious and ever to be dreaded ! Who can 
behold his wife without the most heart-felt commiseration. 
See her clad in tatters, weeping over her miseries, which 
are multiplying around her, while she sits deploring their 
approach. Disconsolate daughter of affliction ! Who but 
the drunken object of thy distress can refrain from the 
tears of sympathy which are merited by thy condition? 
The children, too, are objects of pity. On every return of 
their father from his bacchanalian revels, they tremble to 
hear his vociferations and curses, and, if possible, would 
avoid his blows. But, alas ! they are under the tyrannic 
government of a dnmken father, whose tender mercies are 
cruelty, and whose disposition is gratified only in wreak- 
ing vengeance on the defenseless subjects of his power. 
Yet they have a friend, whose bosom throbs with pity to- 
ward them. It is their mother. But she is unable to 
defend them. When their father's malevolence is glutted, 
and he has fallen into the slumbers of inebriation, the 
children ask their mother for bread ; but she has none to 
give them. The storm howls through the broken windows, 
and they cry with cold. The mother sighs and groans, and 
her broken heart finds consolation only in the vent of 
tears. 

But who is this man who is thus the source of domestic 
wretchedness ? Was he always so ? No, far from this. He 
was once sensible, and sprightly,, and lovely. He was once 



151 AX AWFUL CONTRAST ! 

rich in the possession of the hard-earned inheritance of a 
deceased father. Why is he now so fallen ? What has 
wrought this terrible reverse in his circumstances 1 What 
has metamorphosed this man into an unfeeling tyrant, 
plunged this woman into the deepest distress, and rendered 
these children miserable ? Say, what fiend of darkness 
has poisoned the pleasures and destroyed the domestic en- 
joyments of this once happy family ] The answer is drunk- 
enness ! Time was when this man was a kind husband ; 
a tender-hearted father ; his wife eagerly waited for his 
return from business or a journey, and, on his approach, 
greetecl him with all the tokens of welcome to the much- 
loved circle of domestic happiness. The little prattlers 
met him at the door, emulous to share the first kiss of pa- 
ternal affection. Every room in his house was graced with 
tokens of domestic prosperity. His neighbors respected 
him. The ^00?* blessed him for the bounties of his benev- 
olence ; and the rich confided in him for his integrity. 

But he looked on the cup and tasted. He concluded 
that a morning dram would produce an appetite for food, 
and be conducive to health. He prepared his bottle of 
bitters, and kept it replenished. The more he drank, the 
more he loved it. Soon he found that the useful beverage 
was delightfully stimulating before dinner, and at other 
hours of the day. At length he tippled daily. The habit 
became inflexible. An appetite was formed which was 
irresistible. He plunged occasionally into intoxication, 
and eventually became a downright sot. His estate is 
gone ! His family are reduced to wretchedness ! 

This description is no false coloring of an enthusiastic 



155 A MILITARY GENERAL AND HIS FRIEND. 

imagination. It is, indeed, a dismal picture. But it only 
represents a fact, a melancholy fact, which is demonstrated 
by the deplorable situation of many a family in our coun- 
try and world. Many a man who was once temperate 
and industrious, whose fair estate was inherited, or earned 
by the sweat of his brow, has fallen a victim to poverty, 
and shame, and death, by first contracting the habit of tip- 
ling, and then yielding to the dominion of an ungoverna- 
ble appetite. At first the danger was not discovered . But 
when the appetite was once formed, the " signs of the times''* 
discovered the fact that destruction was near. Intemper- 
ance, like a raging tempest, generally follows with all its 
deadly consequences. A consideration of consequences at 
this period proves of little avail to check the growing evil. 
A gnawing appetite overpowers a?l arguments, rejects all 
entreaties, and totally disregards the frightful, approaching 
warnings of all consequences ! 

A gentleman in one of the Southern States, some years 
ago, who sustained the military office of "general" con- 
tracted an appetite for strong drink. A friend resolved to 
visit, and endeavor to reclaim him. He embraced an op- 
portunity, and made known to the general the object of 
his visit. The general's reply was, " Hear me, first, a few 
words, and then you may proceed. I am sensible that I 
have contracted a strong appetite for spirituous liquor. I 
am sensible that the gratification of this appetite will lead 
to the loss of reputation, the loss of property, the loss of 
domestic happiness, the disgrace of my family, a prema- 
ture death, and the irretrievable and eternal loss of my im- 
mortal soul. And now, with all this conviction settled on my 



156 A GOD-PROVOKING EXPEDIENT. 

mind, and flashing over my conscience like peals of light- 
ning, if I still continue to gratify my prepensity for strong 
drink, and am not persuaded to abandon the habit, do you 
think what you can say will do it?" The friend took his 
hat, retired, and uttered not a word. And, as some would 
say, well he might, for what could he have said by way of con- 
sequence, that had not been said or implied by the frank 
and ingenious forestallment of the general, to disarm his 
premonitbry visitant of the weapons of a fearful attack 
upon his conscience, that might operate against the peace- 
able possession of his darling appetite for strong drink.* 
The fact was, that the general had told the whole story, 
the amount of which was, I am resolved to gratify my 
appetite for strong drink, although wretchedness on earth, 
and the torments of an eternal hell hereafter, be my inevit- 
able, irretrievable, and never-ending portion, with all such 
other resolute, fearless, bravado drunkards, as would dare 
to adopt such a God-provoking expedient to ward off the 
affectionate advice, counsel, and admonition of a friend who 
saw his friend in danger, and hastened to give timely warn- 
ing, in hope of being instrumental in saving a soul from 
death ! 

Whether the artful old general be now alive or dead ; 
whether he now lives a reformed drunkard and a hopeful 
Christian, or a hopeless drunkard in the broad way to de- 
struction ; or whether he became reformed, a true penitent, 
died in the faith of the gospel of Jesus, and is now with 

* I make the above statement and its application in my own language, but 
follow the curreDt of ideas respecting the general and his visitant, as nearly aa 
memory serves, as I read it in a periodical several years ago, but have not the 
authority now at command. 



ABSURDITY OF A RELEVANT CASE. 157 

the redeemed saints in glory ; or whether he continued to 
be a drunken sot of a general, till his bloated, wretched 
body sunk in death, and devils conducted his soul to the 
regions of the damned, we pretend not to know. But one 
thing we do know, that if the facts of the case of his reply 
to his burdened friend be true, as .above stated, then of 
all the fools that ever lived on earth he was one of the 
most foolish of all generals ! 

What would be the public estimation of a man asleep in 
his own bed at home, and a friend passing his house at mid- 
night, should discover the flames bursting through the roof 
of the house, and should scream fire I fire ! fire ! but, 
not seeing nor hearing any one, should run to the door, 
burst it open, and cry fire ! fire ! till his friend, who had been 
all this while silent, should awake at the cry of fire, and 
knowing that the hue and cry of fire was the voice of his 
friend, should calmly reply, hear me first a few words, and 
then proceed : " i* hear the flames, and smell the smoke. 
I am sensible and fully convinced that my house is on fire, 
and that the building and all its contents will soon be re- 
duced to ashes ; myself and all my family, with our house- 
hold stuff, will be burned up if I continue to lie here ! But 
I am now comfortably in bed. And if the crackling of 
the flames, and full conviction of their power to destroy, 
will not move me to leave my much- loved pillow, do 
you think your hue and cry of fire ! fire ! will do it I" 
What should we thmk of such a man ? No language can 
describe such folly, such stupidity, such abandoned mad- 
ness, such indescribable heaven-daring wickedness and pre 
sumption. And yet every drunkard, like the old general, 
14 



158 AN ADMONITION APPLIED. 

is just such a madman, and self-destroying object of com- 
miseration ! 

And here let an admonition be administered. The man, 
quietly in bed, knowing that his house is on fire, must be 
seized and dragged out of it by any friend of mankind who 
sees the danger. And so, the friend of the old bravado 
general, instead of taking his hat, and leaving the general 
without a word of reply, would have been much more con- 
sistent, if he had seized the general by the skirt of his 
garment, and, at the top of his voice, for one, two, or more 
hours, cried " Hell-fire and damnation to you, general ! 
or destruction to your appetite ! And if you will not prom- 
ise the latter by your immediate abandonment of your 
tursed liquor, I will tear off this skirt of your garment, 
and preserve it as a pledge to bear testimony against you 
(that this warning was given), on the day when the sentence 
of endless death will be pronounced against you for your 
willful, deliberate, and presumptuous drunkenness !" 

Appalling as such a statement may appear, the stubborn 
fact is, that such is the awful conclusion of every intem- 
perate man, who hears and realizes the consequences of 
his course of conduct, and still resolves to continue in 
the gratification of his appetite. When he lifts the glass 
to his mouth, in view of such consequences, he virtually 
says, " This is what I love and hanker after, and I can not 
be deprived of it. Though my reputation, and property, 
and happiness, and life, and soul be lost forever, yet one 
thing I will take care of, and that is, the contents of this 
glass of liquor, which I estimate superior in value to the 
price of my soul, and drink it I will, if I am damned for- 



A HARVEST-FIELD SCENE. 159 

ever !" "When a person arrives at this point, his prospects 
are deplorable ! No man can long respect himself under 
the lashes of public contempt. The mind must be filled 
with perplexity. Every source of domestic happiness 
vanishes. "Poverty comes apace as one that traveleth, 
and want as an armed man." Disease, like an enemy in 
ambush, watches opportunity to fix a death-grasp on a vital 
part. And not unfrequently suicide closes the scene of 
desolation on earth, and plunges the victim of wretched- 
ness, unprepared, into eternity, where the solemn truth 
will be believed (if never before), that " drunkards shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God." 

How astonishing it is, that in a world full of alarm 
many will not take warning till destruction comes upon 
them, and drags them down to ruin. In the summer of 
1830, in the town of Ballston, and but an half mile from 
this spot,* I saw a man fill his bottle with spirituous liquor, 
after dinner, to carry into the harvest-field for the use of 
himself and his hired man, both of whom were lovers of 
the poisonous fluid. As I had been put in trust of a cer- 
tain agency in that field, I earnestly remonstrated against 
the transportation of the bottle into the field, and proposed 
various substitutes for refreshment, if the liquor might be 
left in the house. But remonstrance and proposed substi- 
tutes were alike in vain, the bottle was carried into the field. 

My next object was to exert all the friendly influence 
in my power over the men in the field, to lessen the use of 
the liquor as much as possible. In this I had reason to 
believe I succeeded in some degree, but though both re- 

* On the East Lino of Ballston, where this address was first delivered, 1S83. 



160 A BOTTLE OF RUM PRODUCES DEATH. 

mained sober, it occasioned offense. The hired man, on 
some pretense, left the field before night, and a hue and 
cry was set up in the neighborhood against cold-water laws 
in the harvest-field ! This aroused the indignation of the 
employer, who, after well replenishing his bottle the next 
morning, addressed his hired man in the field in my pres- 
ence thus : " Here, Richard, the half of the grain in this 
field is mine, and the whole of the liquor in this bottle is 
mine ; drink when you please, and as much as you please, 
for I am determined to be master of my own business, 
and, while in my employ, you shall be controlled by 
none. 5 ' 

This address had its desired effect. My mouth was 
closed on the subject of opposition to the bottle, and my 
influence in that field was gone. But mark the result of 
that morning's address. By ten o'clock the employer felt 
rich and important, and the hired man was in the full en- 
joyment of all the pleasures that a bottle of rum could 
impart. About eleven o'clock, the employer came into 
the house to refresh himself with a nap before dinner, and 
the hired man about the same time lay down on a swarth 
of rye in the field, to take his rest. At noon he was drunk 
on his bed of rye, and could not be awaked (by a cracller 
still in the field) to go to dinner. Immediately after din- 
ner, the half-sober cracller went into the field, and raised 
an alarm. The family and a few near neighbors collected 
instantly in the field, on the alarm ; a sheaf of rye was 
made for the dying drunkard's pillow ; every breath was a 
groan of awful sound, from the effects of liquid fire prey- 
ing upon his vitals, and in less than twenty minutes after 



FUNERAL OF THE DRUNKARD. 161 

the company were collected, the drunkard expired, a monu- 
ment of ever-memorable wretchedness to perpetuate the 
horrors of intemperance. 

To this scene, from the beginning to the end, except 
when at dinner, I was an eye and ear witness. The next 
day I preached his funeral sermon from the words of a 
prophet, " Woe to the drunkards of EphraimP There are 
living witnesses here to-day of the solemnities of that 
dreadful scene which I have now described, who heard the 
discourse, and saw the witness of its importance in the 
ghastly corpse of a drunkard. 

The reason why I have resumed that subject in this ex- 
plicit manner, may be learned from the fact, that it was 
immediately rumored after that funeral, that the person 
died by drinking cold water ; and it was so represented in 
the public newspapers. I read the account myself in the 
State of Connecticut, and in a Connecticut paper, in which 
was stated the name, time, and place of the death, occa- 
sioned (as it was erroneously said) by "drinking cold 
water? Such are the subterfuges to which the friends of 
intemperance are driven, to promote a cause which is sweep- 
ing its thousands down to destruction. 

We hence repeat, and would reiterate the awful truth, 
that the evils of intemperance are incalculable. What is 
it that produces more than any other thing, contentions, 
animosities, and assault and battery % It is intemperance. 
What is it that fills our alms-houses with paupers, our 
county jails and State penitentiaries with convicts, and 
taxes the industrious part of community with the costs 
and charges of their respective poverty and criminations % 



162 EEEECTTAL CUKE FOE Ds'TEMPEEAXCE. 

Principally, all this is the effect of intemperance. What 
is it that levies a heavier burden of taxation on the general 
community than the national debt ? The answer is, in- 
temperance. TV hat is it that excites passions which often 
terminate in rapes, riots, robberies, and murders ? Intem- 
perance. The broad way to destruction is crowded with 
intemperate travelers, the number of which will not be 
known to mortals till the day cometh that ; * God shall 
judge the world in righteousness, and render to every man 
according as his work shall be." 

An important question now arises. What shall be 
done to exterminate an evil which has long been sweeping 
over our world like a raging pestilence I An answer is 
prepared; join the temperance society, and unite in all 
laudable efforts to promote the pending National Temper- 
ance Reform. The constitution of the temperance society 
is based on a conviction of the evils of intemperance, 
and its object is to enlist volunteers from every depart- 
ment of community to aid in overthrowing this common 
enemy of mankind. The position which reformers are 
required to take in this mighty warfare, is to deny them- 
selves of the use of spirituous liquors (except in case of 
medicine), and endeavor to persuade their neighbors to do 
the same. This is the exact standard of the temperance 
Under a full conviction of the gross perversion 
and abuse of distilled liquors, the laws of the temperance 
society are designed to abolish the common use of the arti- 
cle, and confine it to a medicinal use, for which it was first 
designed. Common sense dictates, that apothecary drugs 
and medicines are to be used only by the sick, and by 



OBJECTIONS TO TEMPERANCE ANSWERED. 163 

them only under the direction of medical authority. Only 
let this simple, plain, common-sense rule be adopted in 
relation to the use of spirituous liquor, and let it become 
a general and universal rule, and be faithfully observed, 
and the Temperance Reformation would be equally exten- 
sive, and drunkenness, with all its train of evils, would be 
exterminated from the world. 

CONCISE ANSWERS TO THREE POPULAR OBJECTIONS 

to the principles of temperance and the Temperance Re- 
formation, and a few words to the ladies, will close the sub- 
ject of this, chapter. 

I. A popular objection to the restrictions of the temper- 
ance society is, That to abide them, mankind are deprived 
of their liberty and natural rights ! Of what liberty and 
natural rights, it is inquired, do the laws of temperance 
deprive mankind, or any of v them'? The answer is, If I 
join the temperance society, and observe its rules, I must 
deprive myself of the liberty and natural right of drinking 
rum, gin, brandy, and other liquors when I please, without 
being subjected to the pains of applying to a physician to 
know whether I need a dram or not. 

A moment's reflection will show, that the principle set 
up in this objection leads only to a perversion of all that 
liberty and natural right which are guaranteed to mankind 
by the constitution of heaven and the laws of every free 
country. Because a man is at liberty to think, speak, and 
act freely, does it follow that he has a right to conceive 
murder in his heart, to commit suicide on his own body, 
or put an end to the life of his neighbor ? Because man- 



164r OBJECTIONS TO TEMPERANCE REFUTED, 

kind are endowed with natural rights to breathe air, eat 
food, drink liquid, and labor for support, does it follow that 
they have a right to manufacture poison, and eat and drink 
it to their destruction ? Follow the principle of this 'pre- 
tended liberty, and see where it will lead. My life is my 
own, and I have liberty, yea, a right to dispose of it as I 
please. This dose of poison was manufactured by my 
hands, or purchased with my money, and I will drink it if 
I please. This wife, these children, this house, are all 
mine. To bind myself, or be bound, under legal restric- 
tions, that I shall not kill my wife and children, and burn 
my house with fire, when I please, would destroy my 
liberty and natural rights ! 

These may appear extravagant. But, believe me, this 
is but the maturity of the principle, based on the objection 
under consideration, which is often made against the re- 
strictions of the temperance society. Every person who 
indulges the habit of a common use of spirituous liquor, on 
the principle that it is his liberty or right so to do, does 
nothing less than to take by piecemeal a dose of poison 
which will terminate in all the degradation and wretched- 
ness in life, and misery in the world to come, which are 
inevitably connected with moral suicide. Hence, for a per- 
son to lay himself under such voluntary restraints as tend 
to the preservation of all that is essential to his present 
and eternal welfare, is so far from depriving himself of his 
liberty and natural rights, that this is, in fact, the best and 
only sure method to secure them. 

II. Another popular objection to the temperance cause 
is, that it materially injures the interest of individuals. 



WHO ARE THE LOSERS? 165 

Distillers and venders of spirituous liquors, doubtless, 
constitute that part of community alluded to in the objec- 
tion ; for no others can be said to be losers. Give this 
objection its full force, and what will be the amount ? Sup- 
pose that distillers and venders of this article will be 
losers, what is their loss, to the general loss of community 
by the traffic ? Compute, for instance, the loss and gain 
of a neighborhood where spirituous liquor is the staple 
commodity of traffic unmolested, as is frequently the case 
where there is a distillery, a tippling house of ill fame, or 
a little petty store of dry goods and groceries, with a license 
to sell liquor by the small measure. The retailers, it is 
granted, get the names of a considerable number of their 
neighbors on their book of account, and all, or much of the 
small money out of their pockets. They may thrive ; but 
what becomes of their customers % These spend no small 
portion of their time and money at the tippling house or 
store, and the harvest they reap is intemperance, want, and 
wretchedness. The venders of spirituous liquors are truly 
sowing the seeds of evil among mankind, which injures 
the whole community in exact proportion to the advantage 
of the individual venders. What, therefore, is the verdict 
of benevolence and philanthropy in this case 1 It must be 
this, let the pernicious traffic of spirituous liquors be abol- 
ished by the overpowering influence of the temperance 
society ; and let the distillers and venders of said liquors 
join in the general reformation, and pursue some other call- 
ing for a livelihood, instead of one which tends to the sub- 
version of all good, and the introduction of wretchedness 
and misery among their fellow men. 



166 WHERE DOES THE BLAME LIE ? 

TIL One more popular objection to the temperance 
cause is, that many who profess to adhere to the rules of 
the temperance society do not abide by their own engage- 
ments. We are very sorry to be obliged to confess that 
this is too true. It is much to be feared and lamented, 
that some of the members of temperance societies are not 
faithful to fulfill their pledged engagements. But, does 
this prove any thing against the institution ? Certainly 
not. The very objection is based on the virtual admission 
that the institution is good; but, that some of the mem- 
bers are disorderly ! If the institution itself were perni- 
cious, no reasonable person could wish to see its rules 
observed. But, when it is admitted to be good, tending 
generally and ultimately to the best interest, welfare, and 
happiness of mankind, what a frivolous pretext is this, to 
bring objections against an admitted good institution, be- 
cause some of its members walk disorderly ! The absurd- 
ities of such an objection are too glaring not to be discerned 
by the most superficial observer. Similar objections 
might be made on the same principle to the church of 
God, and to all divine institutions ; for many who profess 
to be their votaries, are a disgrace to the cause which they 
profess. 

On a review of all that has been said, I would exhort 
the advocates of temperance to be faithful to the cause 
they have espoused. A total subversion of the empire of 
intemperance is the object we have in view, and arms are 
never to be laid down, nor even an armistice consented to, 
till the work is done. Under the wave of the victorious 
banner of temperance, our martial band, throughout this 



A WORD FOE THE LADIES. 167 

Republic, in conjunction with others across the Atlantic, 
beats high to-day for volunteer reformers, to fill up the 
ranks of the fallen and waste places with new recruits, till 
a phalanx shall be formed in every city, town, and village 
in our land, which shall be able, successfully, to break 
through the enemy's ranks, and push the victory till not a 
drunkard can be found on the earth. 

Come forward, then, ye friends to mankind, and enlist 
in the cause of temperance. If you are temperate, and 
have never been otherwise, joining us will be productive 
of general good, and can do you no harm. And if any 
are on the verge of the habit of intemperance, renouncing 
the gratification of your appetite, and joining with us, may 
be the best and the only effectual means of preserving 
your health, your character, your property, and happiness 
from ruin, and your souls from eternal misery. 

The concluding paragraph is most respectfully addressed 
to the ladies. 

It is but justice to acknowledge that the female sex pos- 
sess ability of exerting a powerful and extensive influence 
over society. Instances of female influence, which have 
been successful in averting predominant evils ; in amelio- 
rating the state of community ; in forming correct morals, 
and in promoting true religion in the world, have been 
numerous in every age, and have been so recorded in the 
book of divine inspiration, and in the history of the genera- 
tions of mankind. And (without giving offense to any 
virtuous female) it must also be confessed, that their sex 
is liable to fall into the vortex of vice, as well as the 
other. Lamentable instances of this description have dis- 



168 TEMPERANCE SOLDIERS, HOW ENLISTED. 

figured the pages of history in every age of the world. 
And, though a female drunkard is of all objects on earth 
one of the most detestable, yet the awful spectacle has in 
some instances been seen, when women have surmounted 
a sense of shame, and disgrace, and every other obstruction 
to the gratification of their appetite for strong drink, till 
they have not only become female drunkards, but, under 
the influence of their besotted habit, have poisoned or 
otherwise put their husbands to death, killed their chil- 
dren, spread wretchedness all around them, murdered 
their own souls, and left the world in despair.* 

From considerations so deplorable, many female friends 
of virtue and the cause of temperance, have banded them- 
selves together, in exertions to exterminate from society 
the evils of intemperance. Hence it frequently comes to 
pass, that when old men, and men of middle age, and 
their sons, come forward and enlist as volunteers in the 
cause of temperance, it is found that female influence has 
been the moving cause. The advice of a dear mother ; 
the persuasions of a beloved wife ; entreaties of an affec- 
tionate sister or female friend, have influenced thousands 
of valiant soldiers to enlist during the war under the ban- 
ner of temperance. Go, ladies, and do likewise. 

* It was but eleven clays before the delivery of this lecture in East Line School- 
house, 1S33, that the funeral of a female drunkard, burned to death, was attended 
in the same place. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

[Addbess delivered before the Temperance Society of the town of Malta. Saratoga 
County, New York, at their Annual Meeting, March 8, 1834.] 

anecdote of a drunkard^ boy from his words, "i 
would take the whisky." 

Mr. President — Fellow Citizens : 

As the motto of my present address, I will relate an 
anecdote which may be relied on by the public as au- 
thentic. 

A clergyman residing in one of the counties of the State 
of New York was in his barn not many months ago, in 
company with a son of his, a young man of about seven- 
teen years of age, who was at work husking corn. Pres- 
ently came into the barn also a neighboring lad of about 
ten or twelve years of age. His parents ranked among 
the poorest class of people in the country. They resided 
in a small log cabin by the side of a market road, with a 
considerable number of almost half naked children, and 
doubtless at many times felt the pressure of adversity 
sorely upon them. Neither the man, nor his wife, nor a 
child in the cottage, could read in any book of any lan- 
guage, and all of them appeared perfectly contented to re- 
main in ignorance of all the privileges, advantages, and 
happiness to be derived from books, and learning, and the 
knowledge of the world. 

15 



170 THE DELIGHTFUL THING. 

All that the parents appeared to aspire after, was food 
and other indispensables of life for themselves and their 
children, and occasionally, or as often as their means would 
permit, to procure something which was deemed necessary 
to revive and cheer up their spirits, and render the whole 
household, from oldest to youngest, happy in the enjoy- 
ment of the fireside. 

This something, which was deemed essential to promote 
the happiness of that family, was not, occasionally, a bet- 
ter fire than usual, nor a roast turkey, nor any change of 
diet which would be calculated to afford a season of feast- 
ing and family repast. But the thing which was often 
tried, and found, without mistake, to render a poor, ignor- 
ant family at once, in feeling, as rich, and comfortable, and 
happy as any of their neighbors, was a jug of whisky. 
Whisky was the delightful thing. Its enchanting power 
proved abundantly sufficient at times to counterbalance all 
the real and imaginary evils of life, and to soothe and lull 
the senses into a state of quiet repose and insensibility of 
fear and danger. 

A few shillings laid out for whisky, and drank freely 
both by parents and children, would operate on the whole 
family circle to a degree most animating. In that cottage, 
while its inmates were under the influence of whisky, a 
passing traveler might have his ears saluted sometimes 
with outrageous oaths, quarrels, brawls, and fightings ; and 
sometimes with the sweet melody of singing and dancing, 
originating from a circle of children in tatters, and some- 
times almost half starved. 

When the jug was emptied of its animating beverage, a 



THE WHISKY FAMILY. 171 

season of moroseness generally followed, interspersed with 
lucid intervals of idleness, and as much drudgery of some 
kind or another, as absolute necessity forced upon them to 
answer the imperious mandates of nature, and keep them 
from starving, until means should be found practicable and 
adequate to replenish the jug of w^hisky, and prepare for 
another vacation from the hated toils of life. 

Frequently, however, it w T as the case that the male mem- 
bers of the family found an opportunity of gratifying the 
pleasures of appetite at some public place of resort, where 
the much-loved whisky is freely given as a reward for 
some menial service. Such opportunities were frequently 
sought by the father and the sons of his household, who 
were ever ready to perform almost any kind of drudgery 
for persons who would pay for such services in whisky. 

This wretched family lived within a short distance of a 
very noted and extensive tavern establishment, which was 
always kept well replenished with all kinds of liquor for 
the accommodation of travelers, and a plenty, also, to pay 
for any services that might be needed from loafers who 
esteemed it a privilege to receive pay for their labor in 
whisky. Year after year it was not an uncommon thing 
to see the father of the family above described, and several 
of his boys, loitering round that tavern from morning till 
late in the night, to see and hear all that could be seen and 
heard, to perform some little office for travelers, who would 
reward them with whisky ; and also to wait on the landlord 
sufficient to pay him for an occasional luncheon, and as 
much whisky as would be sufficient to keep them in a happy 
mood. And when all the services of the day were thus 



172 WHISKY-FAMILY GOVERNMENT. 

performed, and the refreshments of the day and evening 
were thus received, frequently at a very late hour of the 
night, they would take their leave of the landlord, as per- 
fectly satisfied with their wages as he was with their servi- 
ces, and home they would trudge, or stagger, to the tune 
of a whistle, or some other vocal music of nature, to take 
a nap in the bunk, the better to prepare them for the like 
services and wages of another day. 

The government of this family was sometimes anarchy, 
sometimes monarchy, and sometimes republican. Oc- 
casionally, the father would get intoxicated with passion 
as well as with whisky, and then the government would 
be administered in a thrashing to some purpose, let the 
cause be what it would. When he was good-natured, 
each one of the family was allowed to possess the power 
of administering the principles of self-government — to 
talk as he pleased, to sing as he pleased, to swear as he 
pleased, to dance as he pleased, to go and come when, 
where, and as he pleased, and stay as long as he pleased. 
If there were a horse-race, or a show, or a bee (as it is 
sometimes called), or a revel of any description in the 
region round about, boys of from ten to fifteen years of 
age, in tatters from head to foot, would be there, with 
all that boldness and self-confidence which are the peculiar 
characteristics of those who are born under and educated 
in the principles of whisky -government. And when it was 
their pleasure to return home, whether by day or night, if 
good-humor permitted, the family circle would be regaled 
on hearing the bold, self-important little fellows recount 
the feats which they had performed or witnessed at the 



DIALOGUE CLERGYMAN AND BOY. 173 

celebrated bacchanals which had been graced with their at- 
tendance. 

Such was the general character of the above described 
family, who lived in the neighborhood of the clergyman 
referred to One of the boys, it was stated, of this family, 
came at a certain time into the barn of the clergyman, 
where the following dialogue took place between the clergy- 
man and the boy : 

Clergyman, Well, my boy, do you love to work % 

Boy. I do 'no. I love to work well enough. [Step- 
ping along toward the work in which the clergyman's son 
was engaged, he began to husk corn with some degree of 
energy.] 

Cler. Truly, you work very well. Can you read any *? 

Boy. No; I never went to school. [Kept on work 
smartly.] 

Cler. What do you think about going to school, and 
learning to read, as other boys do, that you may be able 
to read good books % 

Boy. I don't think much about it. 

Cler. Would you not like to be able to read ? 

Boy. I don't care any thing about it. [Began to look 
somewhat sour, but kept on work.] 

Cler. Well, my boy, which of the two following things 
would you choose, if you could have either for a wish 
Say, now, if you could have a hogshead of whisky given 
to you for a wish ; or, if you could have good learning 
given to you by some person who would be able and will- 
ing to teach you, till you could read well, and write well, 
and be able keep accounts, and do business to your own 



174 I WOULD TAKE THE WHISKY. 

advantage, and let the whisky alone, and grow up to be a 
respectable man in the world — now, which would you 
choose, the whisky or the learning ? 

Boy [very short and stern.] / would take the whisky. 
[And started instantly from the work toward the barn door.] 

Cler. Stop, my boy ; come, sit down with me a little 
while, and I will give you some good advice. 

Boy. I must go. 

Clergyman' '* Son. Stop, Billy, stop ; come back ; don't 
be in a hurry. [No answer.] 

By this time the boy was out of the barn, and was steer- 
ing his way off with speed. 

Cler. Son to the Father. He is gone. Your conver- 
sation, father, has offended him. He will not endure that. 
It had a direct tendency to drive him off. 

Cler. to his Son. If it must be so, I can not recall it. 
But one thing I have learned. From the occurrence, I am 
furnished with materials for an instructive and impressive 
anecdote, which 1 think I shall improve the first oppor- 
tunity for the benefit of the public, and to subserve the 
cause of temperance. Every such occurrence, my son, 
should be improved for the benefit of those who will hear 
and take warning, and this, I am resolved, shall not pass 
unimproved. 

Son. Well, father, I concur in your opinion. I believe 
it may be improved to public advantage. What a strange 
thing for such a boy to choose a hogshead of whisky in 
preference to learning, which, if well improved,would render 
him useful, respectable, and happy. Such is the anecdote. 

Now, Mr. President, if such a family as have been de- 



TIME AMD LABOR WASTED. 175 

scribed could be persuaded to join the temperance society, 
what a blessing it would prove to them. The amount 
paid for whisky in the course of a year, would doubtless 
be sufficient to pay for several articles of clothing for their 
children, and other necessaries for the use of the family. 
The mere expense of the whisky, however, is but a small 
portion of the real tax which they levy on themselves, and 
voluntarily pay for the support of their most pernicious 
habit. A prodigal waste of precious time amounts to a 
much greater tax. Time is the important machinery of 
duration, which is divinely employed to measure every 
passing moment and period of human existence, from the 
first little stroke of the pulse, when the lungs commence 
their respiration, to the last gasp of departing breath, 
when life, with all its concerns, is brought to a consumma- 
tion. It is only in the judicious improvement of time that 
all the business of life is transacted, and preparation made 
for death, judgment, and eternity. In such a view, how 
much more precious is time than gold ! Every person in 
community ought to consider a waste of time as really a 
loss, as the waste of money. 

The time wasted by such a family as have been de- 
scribed, in the course of a year, at a moderate calculation, 
would amount to a considerable sum, to say nothing of 
the great sin of misimproving such a portion of the day, 
the only day of grace. All the tim*e expended in going 
after whisky, all the time expended in family revels in 
drinking it, all the time spent at public resorts for the 
purpose of gratifying the thirst for whisky, all the time 
spent in loitering round a tavern or store for the purpose 



176 ITEMS OF TAXATION. 

of performing services for the reward of whisky, is time 
wasted, and worse than wasted ; for many vicious habits 
are contracted, and bad examples set to others, all which 
tend to much more injury than if the time thus spent were 
lounged away in sleep. 

Now, consider what a tax even such a poor family pay 
for the support of their appetite for whisky. It is pre- 
sumed, that when all the above described items of time 
and money spent for whisky in one year are summed to- 
gether, the amount of the whole in money, at a moderate 
price for time and labor, would be more than the richest 
man in any of our country towns pays in taxes for the 
support of government, public schools, and the poor in the 
county-house, to say nothing of what he may give for the 
support of the gospel ministry. 

If a poor man, without a foot of land, were taxed five, 
or even two dollars a year for the use of the public treas- 
ury, he would complain, and feel himself oppressed. But, 
to support the treasury of the whisky-jug, many a poor 
family, like the one above described, without a foot of 
land, or a cent of real estate, and but a scanty pittance to 
supply the absolute necessities of life, will tax themselves 
every year, to be paid in time and money, for the mere 
article of whisky, or some other liquor, even to a greater 
amount than many a rich man pays into the public treas- 
ury for the consideration of his lands, and tenements, and 
goods, and chattels. 

Lest such a statement may appear extravagant, it may 
be worth our time to demonstrate the fact by calculation. 

Suppose, what was about the fact, that in the poor 



VOLUNTARY FAMILY TAXATION. 177 

family were the father, the mother, two sons, each of 
whom were able to perform the labor of a common man, 
and two other boys, who were able to perform half the la- 
bor of a man each, besides several other members of the 
family, who were able to drink whisky when it was 
brought into the house. 

Suppose, farther, that the quantity of whisky consumed 
in the family at an average, was but a half gill a clay 
each, for the man, his wife, and four sons, six in number. 
This would amount to thirty-four gallons, one pint, and 
three gills in one year, besides what might have been con- 
sumed by the younger children. At three shillings a gal- 
lon, the whisky would amount to thirteen dollars and 
seventy-five cents. 

Suppose, again, that but once in a month, on an aver- 
age, this family celebrated a whisky revel, which con- 
tinued one day. The value of the time of each such revel 
would amount, at a moderate calculation, to two dollars 
and twenty-five cents, and in a year to twenty-seven dollars. 

Suppose, once more, that only a half a day in a week 
was spent by each working member of the family at a 
tavern or store, doing chores for whisky. The time thus 
wasted in a year would be sufficient to earn, at a moder- 
ate average price of labor, the amount of fifty-four dollars. 
The foregoing sums put together would stand thus : 

For whisky $13 75 

Time spent in family revels, sufficient to earn the amount of 27 00 
Time wasted in doing chores for whisky, sufficient in one 
year to earn the amount of 54 00 

Total $94 75 



178 ENOKMOUS TAX, YET NO COMPLAINT. 

According to this computation (which is presumed to 
be within the bounds of probable facts), this poor family 
subjected themselves annually to the enormous tax of 
$94 75, to gratify their appetite for whisky. A farmer 
must have a heavy capital to be required to pay such a 
tax for the support of government. All this might be 
saved, and much more, by uniting with the temperance 
society. How much would it add to the interest, to the 
reputation, and to the happiness of such a family, if the 
amount of money and time thus wasted, and worse than 
wasted, were economically managed to procure the neces- 
saries of life. By such a change many a poor family 
would be found to thrive and prosper in the world, until 
they attain to comfortable circumstances. Their children, 
instead of growing up in ignorance and vice, preparatory 
to a life of intemperance, uselessness, degradation, and 
crime, which often result in the forfeiture of life, and death 
on the gallows, might be sent to school, and trained up 
for usefulness to themselves and to society. Thus the 
money and time which are wasted for whisky, and other 
strong drink, if saved and economically improved for ne- 
cessary uses, would furnish even a poor family with means 
of living comfortably upon the resources of their own in- 
dustry, and of maintaining a respectable rank in society. 

The respectability of a person is not to be estimated by 
the quantity of silver and gold which he has laid up in store, 
nor the lands, flocks, herds, and elegant mansions which 
he possesses ; for all these may be the idols of the most 
sordid, niggardly, and contemptible wretch which can be 
found upon the earth. Respectability consists in a well- 



FOUNDATION OF MORAL CHARACTER. 179 

established character, comprising honesty, temperance, 
truth, punctuality, and habitual industry in some honora- 
ble and useful calling. All these respectable qualifications 
a poor man may possess to an eminent degree, even though 
his parents may have criminally neglected his education. 
Maintaining such a moral character, a poor man is respected, 
and ought to be respected, and held by the community in 
high estimation, while the miserly wretch who possesses 
millions, and trusts in his wealth to cover the enormities 
of a debauched, intemperate, and dishonest course of life, is 
an object of detestation in the view of every enlightened 
and virtuous person in society. 

Neither is a moral character for respectability to be esti- 
mated merely on profession. It matters but little what a 
man professes, or what the trumpet of fame declares him 
to be, if, in reality, he is not what he professes, and ap- 
pearance only has been the criterion to estimate his moral 
character. When the mask of false glare is removed, he 
sinks in the public estimation into a degree of infamy pro- 
portionate to his overrated profession and deceptive ap- 
pearance. And it matters as little what stigmas, and slan- 
ders, and approbrious epithets are loaded upon a man of 
correct principles and well-established good moral charac- 
ter, by those whose prejudices are fixed, inimical to his 
person and interest. He is not to be moved by the mere 
wind of calumny. He stands firm as a rock, and, gene- 
rally, in that immovable position he witnesses the ship- 
wreck of his calumniators. 

After all that can be said on the subject, whatever may 
be the profession or appearance of the mere pretender, or 



180 INGREDIENTS OF GOOD MORAL CHARACTER. 

the prejudices and defamation employed to blast the good 
man's reputation, there is a criterion to designate moral 
character, which is not to be controverted. Moral charac 
ter is to be estimated according to what a man is in reality. 
If he is strictly and uniformly temperate, he will deserve 
and sustain the character of a temperate man, whatever 
may be said against him to the contrary notwithstanding. 
The same is true in relation to all other ingredients which 
are necessary to constitute a good moral character. 

But, if temperance be wanting, it is impossible to sus- 
tain a character which entitles a man to respectability. 
If a man be intemperate, all the boasted natural and ac- 
quired abilities which he may possess, must, and will, 
unavoidably sink into insignificance. Let a drunken 
man, with the saliva formed from the contents of the 
whisky bottle foaming from the corners of his mouth, tell 
us that he is a man of truth, that he is honest, punctual to 
pay his debts, faithful to fulfill all his promises to his fel- 
low-men, and that, uniformly, he is industriously engaged 
to provide all necessaries for himself and dependents, who 
will believe him ? Even if he does possess some of these 
good moral qualities, what does that avail so long as he is 
intemperate ? This deficiency will blast forever all pros- 
pects of a respectable standing in society, let other re- 
spectable attainments be what they may. 

I witnessed once the pleadings of a lawyer in a cause 
before a civil magistrate. I was filled with admiration at 
the display of his powers of reasoning and elocution. But, 
not less was I astonished and disgusted a few days after, 
when I saw this same lawyer in the fumes of intoxication, 



INTEMPERANCE DESTROYS CHAKACTEK. 181 

prostrating the relics of a classical education, to render 
himself the fool of a company of, apparently, respectable 
men collected on business, who, evidently, were ashamed 
of his society. So sure it is that no degrees of wealth, no 
mental qualifications, acquired abilities, nor professional 
attainments whatever, can secure the intemperate man 
from degradation. 

From such considerations, most powerful and persuasive 
incentives are presented, to influence every man, whether 
he be rich or poor, learned or unlearned, wise or simple, 
to be temperate, to avoid the disgraceful cup of strong 
drink, as he would avoid a putrid carcass ; and, whatever 
may have been his former sentiments and habits, to pause, 
and at once form the solemn resolution never to touch, 
taste, nor handle the enchanting glass, which contains in 
its dregs ingredients for procuring a bloated face, a swollen 
tongue, a degraded character, a hungry belly, an empty 
purse, a vexatious household clothed with rags, and the 
certain prospects of future and inevitable destruction. In 
such a household only can the boy be found who would 
prefer a hogshead of whisky to all the inestimable bless- 
ings and privileges of a good education. The inmates of 
such a household will doubtless be found enemies to the 
cause of temperance and temperance societies, while noth- 
ing short of union with a temperance society, and strict 
adherence to its principles, can save them from disgrace 
and ruin. 

It is a fact worthy of special notice, that tne major part 
of intemperate persons who are to be found in our country 
at the present period, ranks among the poorest class, and 

16 



182 SOLDIEES OF KING ALCOHOL. 

are generally the most indigent persons in the community, 
because intemperance has made them so. Among the 
wealthy, the thorough-going business men, the honorable 
in profession, the brave and illustrious, comparatively but 
few instances of intemperance exist. To find intemperate 
men and women, we have generally to search among the 
poor in community, and the inmates of houses of ill-fame. 
Here the intemperate are to be found. Here the enchant- 
ing, degrading, and relentless tyrant Alcohol holds his 
sway, and rules with iron rod. The poor, who, of all the 
world besides, are the least able to bear the expense, are 
nevertheless the principal supporters of his besotted 
throne. To promote the dignity of his indignant crown, 
they will submit to the most debasing scenes of self-degra- 
dation. To fill his treasuries with the filth of inebriation, 
they are ever ready to devote their first services in the 
morning by a call at the dram-shop, their latest hours of 
night at the house of revelry, the last sixpence from their 
pocket, and the very bread from the mouth of their chil- 
dren. And, if the support of the tyrant's kingdom requires 
a battle and the shedding of blood, many a poor man is 
ever ready to lay off his tattered coat, and lose the last 
drop of blood from his nose, if, by the dexterity of the fire- 
arms of his fists, he may but gain a victory over (not an 
enemy, but) his friend and brother drunkard, both of 
whom are found to be courageously fighting for the same 
cause, and kingdom, and crown of his intemperate majesty, 
Alcohol I 

My object is not to deride nor stigmatize the poor, nor 
indiscriminately to tax them with a propensity to drunken- 



POVERTY AND INTEMPERANCE. 183 

ness. God forbid. The virtuous poor are honorable. 
And no small proportion of the vast community of man- 
kind belongs to this rank, and deserve the honor of es- 
teemed citizens. But they must not be offended when it 
is declared that many a poor man and his family are de- 
based with the habit of intemperance. Many a poor man 
would say, " Give me the hogshead, of whisky" and you 
may have your learning, your lands and houses, your gold 
and silver, your honorary titles and respectability. Many 
a poor female from among the wretched inmates of a 
house of ill-fame would say, " Give me the hogshead of 
whisky" and the pleasure which it brings, and you may 
have the refinements of education, and all the pleasures 
and happiness of honorable marriage and abundance of af- 
fluence and increase. Many a poor man's boy, who never 
saw the inside of a school-room, but had been trained up 
at home in the school of intemperance and vices of 'fright- 
ful mien" would say, like the boy to the clergyman, "/ 
would take the whisky if I could have it for a wish, rather 
than all the larnin in the world ; for dad loves whisky, and 
mam loves whisky, and I love it, and if we can ony have 
anuf on it, who cares for any thing else?" This would 
be the vulgar oratory of many a half naked urchin, who is 
preparing in the school of intemperance for an adept in 
the degrading arts of pilfering, horse-stealing, pocket-pick- 
ing, house, highway, and mail robbery, piracy, murder, 
and the gallows. 

What greater earthly favor, then, can be bestowed on a 
poor intemperate man, whose family would unite with him, 
and say, " Give us the hogshead of whisky" than to per- 



184 TEMPERANCE AND THRIFT. 

suade him and them to abandon the whisky, and join the 
temperance society. This would do them more real ser 
vice, and prove to them a greater blessing, than to bestow 
upon them silver and gold, and houses, and lands, and 
cattle, and servants ; for all these gifts might be squan 
dered by intemperance, and they still be poor. But if they 
can first be persuaded to become temperate, that boy who 
said " I would take the whisky" and others of like cast, 
would say, Father, please send me to school. If the reply 
should be, I am too poor to pay for schooling, the boy 
might pursue his plea thus, Dear father, you are not poorer 
now, than when we all drank whisky together. That 
wicked practice and expense, we have renounced. Please 
be so good, as to give half the savings of this renunciation 
of the whisky jug, for our schooling, and we will endea- 
vor to get learning, and prepare to follow some useful oc- 
cupation, that we may have something to support you and 
our dear mother, when you are so old that you can not 
labor to support yourselves. 

O, where is the parent that could endure such an appeal 
to the conscience from a once degraded child, that now felt 
a desire kindling in his youthful breast to aspire after that 
course of usefulness in the world, which w r ould eventuate 
in respectability, and probably in wealth, and honor, and 
usefulness in the private duties of the family circle, if not 
in the public services of a generation ! 

If there were no other good to be obtained than that 
which appertains to this short and uncertain life, it would 
be the interest of every man and woman in our land, and 
in the world, and especially the interest of the poor, to 



THE IMPENITENT DRUNKARD LOST. 185 

abandon the haunts of vice, if addicted to them, and join 
the society for the promotion of temperance. But, there 
are considerations of greater moment, of infinitely more 
importance, than any thing belonging to this life, to per- 
suade all intemperate persons, and even temperate drinkers, 
to abandon their habits and refuges of inconsistency, and 
come out, and take their stand publicly and avowedly on 
the side of temperance. 

The word of inspiration affirms, that " drunkards shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God" This is an awful decla- 
ration, and replete with dreadful import. No other state 
of future existence is mentioned in the Word of God, than 
the happiness of heaven, or the misery of hell. To one 
or the other of these places and conditions, every individual 
of Adam's race, at the close of this life, is unalterably as- 
signed during the interminable ages of eternity. But, the 
impenitent, unreformed drunkard can not enter into heaven. 
The gates of that holy city are forever barred against him 
by the immutable decree of Jehovah. Thus it stands, and 
thus it will forever stand written, " The drunkard shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God" We are told that " God 
has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world 
in righteousness." What, then, at that great clay must be 
the reward of the drunkard, the impenitent, unreformed 
drunkard 1 He must have his portion in the lake of 
torment, prepared for the enemies of God. For him there 
is no alternative. He can not enter into heaven, nor escape 
the damnation of hell. Though intemperate men, and 
those who are bent on pursuing a course which leads to in- 
temperance, generally, disbelieve the doctrine of future 



186 SOLEMN SELF-INTEKROGATIONS. 

and eternal punishment, reject the Bible, or pervert its 
truths and doctrines to quiet their consciences from convic- 
tion of blame and danger, and from the fear of a future 
retribution, yet God says, " Woe to the wicked, it shall 
be ill with him ; for the reward of his hands shall be given 
him." In hell, the drunkard will find no liquor to quench 
his raging thirst, nor even a drop of water to cool his tor- 
mented tongue. There, all who ridiculed cold water as a 
substitute for strong drink, will cry for a drop of water 
forever, but find none. There, all who hated the cause of 
temperance, who ridiculed temperance reformers with the 
jeering appellation of " cold-water men" and who thus died 
unreformed, unblest, and impenitent, will be each other's 
tormentors forever, where no cold-water measures will ever 
be proposed for their escape. 

In view of such awful considerations, let each hearer 
propose the solemn question to himself, What have I 
done to promote the cause of temperance, which affords 
the only remedy to save drunkards from the torments of 
hell ? Let each question be answered as though the light 
of eternity was dawning upon us. Are we temperate our- 
selves ? If not, we are in the way to ruin. If we are 
temperate ourselves, what have we done, what are we doing, 
what do we now resolve to do, to save others from intem- 
perance and its destructive consequences. And what we 
do must be done quickly. 

Let manufacturers and venders of ardent spirits, from 
the wholesale merchant to the keeper of a petty dram- 
shop, consider that they are, collectively and individually, 
aiding in the formation of drunkards, and preparing souls 



WHAT SHALL I WISH THAT I HAD DONE? 187 

for endless misery. Let them ask, What is the profit of 
my business, compared with the loss of the immortal souls 
which I am fitting for destruction ? And let them ask 
further, Am I not willing to sacrifice the profit of my busi- 
ness, and abandon it forever, for the consideration of being 
instrumental in saving the soul of a single drunkard from 
endless death'? 

Let each hearer ask again, What shall I wish I had done 
to promote the cause of temperance, when languishing on 
a dying bed's When the world is passing from my vision, 
eternity visibly approaching, my soul fluttering at the 
solemn adieu of the tenement of clay, and trembling to 
appear at the bar of eternal justice, O, then, what shall I 
wish that I had done to prevent the increase of drunkards, 
and the ruin of immortal souls ! 

Should I be saved, and mount upward in eternal ages, 
to sing the wonders of redeeming love, and from those im- 
measurable heights of the celestial paradise, be permitted 
to look down to this little spot of world where I received 
such an immortal existence, and be able, with celestial ac- 
curacy, to compute the worth of an immortal soul, and the 
glories of its salvation, what then shall I wish I had done 
to promote the cause of temperance, the salvation of dying 
sinners, and the consequent glory of God '? 

But should I be damned, and sink down in eternal tor- 
ment with the enemies of God and religion; and, f:om 
the unfathomable deeps of that dread lake of horror, 
" where hope never comes" should I be permitted to lift up 
my baleful eyes to this spot of earth, where my sins were 
committed, my guilt contracted, and my condemnation 



188 DESPAIR CLOSES IN DARKNESS. 

sealed in view of the Saviour's open arms of mercy ; and 
while gazing, and reflecting with increased horror upon the 
door of mercy, once open, but now forever closed, should 
I still further be permitted to glance a tormenting look to 
Abraham's bosom, and see my Christian friends safe there 
in glory, and I lost, forever lost, ingulfed in endless per- 
dition, ridiculed by devils, tormented by the reproaches 
of former associates in wickedness, doomed forever to be 
a companion of drunkards, whose intolerable thirst can be 
quenched only by sulphureous flames, raging to desperation, 
and never extinguished ; thus, ingulfed in overwhelm- 
ing billows of despair, what, then, shall I wish that I had 
done to seek deliverance for myself and others from that 
dreadful condemnation ! 



CHAPTER X. 

King Alcohol's Portrait delineated from Head to Foot, Length, Breadth, Weight, 
and Height ; comprising the History of his Parentage, Birth, Life, Exploits, 
most wonderful Deeds, and the Prospects of his declining Tears. Address, 
delivered before the Malta Town Temperance Society, Jan. 1, 1311. 

Mr. President — Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Alluding to Satan, an apostle declared to the Co- 
rinthian Church, " We are not ignorant of his devices" — 
2 Cor. ii. 11. 

We propose to apply this apostolic declaration to the 
present enlightened state of community, in relation to the 
devices of the same adversary for the promotion of intem- 
perance, which holds a rank in the first class, as a strata- 
gem for the destruction of mankind. 

The whole systematic artifice of intemperance (so far as 
intoxicating liquors are concerned) comprises but three 
points, viz., The manufacture, sale, and consumption of 
strong drinks. These will be considered in order. 

The manufacture of strong drink combines the arts of 
fermentation and distillation together. The first process 
is to ferment liquid substances, derived from the fruits of 
the earth, by which process alcohol is formed, which alone 
contains the intoxicating principle. Alcohol consists of a 
compound of deadly poisonous gases, which can be pro- 
duced in no other way than by the chemical process of 
fermentation. The intoxicating principle exists as really 
in the juice of apples, after fermentation, as it does in rum, 



190 MANUFACTURE OF ALCOHOL. 

brandy, or gin. The alcohol is as perfect in the one as in 
the others, and the difference between them is only this, 
that pure brandy is alcohol separated from all extraneous 
substances to weaken it, while alcohol in cider is mixed 
with such a quantity of other fluids as to render it less 
noxious, unless a sufficient quantity of the mixture is taken 
to produce intoxication. When this is done, the effect of 
the alcohol is as virulent from cider as it is when the 
same quantity is taken from brandy or any other ardent 
spirits. The same facts exist in relation to beer, ale, and 
all kinds of fermented wines. 

Distillation is the art of separating the pure alcohol 
from its weakening appendages, with which it is always 
connected after a state of fermentation. The art of distill- 
ing spirits, we are told, was discovered several hundred 
years ago, by a company of Arabian apothecaries and 
chemists. Distilled spirits were first used as medicine, 
and sold by weight, eight drachms to an ounce, and hence 
the origin of the term dram. Soon, however, distilled 
spirits passed from the medicinal use to the purposes of 
sensuality as a common beverage, and the art of distilling 
ardent spirits has become almost universally prevalent. 

Such are the arts employed in the manufacture of alco- 
hol, and all the intoxicating liquors that have ever existed 
have been thus manufactured. By this combination of 
arts, intoxicating liquors of various flavors, various prices, 
and various powers to intoxicate, are accommodated to 
all the different appetites and circumstances of mankind. 
Young beginners are favored with weak, pleasant, fer- 
mented liquors, such as cider, beer, and wine ; and when 



MANY LABORERS REQUIRED. 191 

an appetite is formed for more powerful stimulants, alco- 
hol, divested of its weakening appendages by the distillery, 
fosters the insatiable appetite to intoxication. 

A vast amount of manual labor and a great number of 
workmen are required to cany into effect the manufacture 
of alcohol. If the various processes necessary to make 
fifty barrels of cider would require the labor of a number 
of men and beasts during several days (as the fact would 
be), what an almost innumerable host of laborers must be 
required to manufacture all the various kinds of intoxi- 
cating liquors with which this world has been and is con- 
stantly flooded ! Thousands and tens of thousands, yea, 
millions, are engaged in this work. Some are employed in 
building cider- mills, breweries, and distilleries, with their 
appurtenances. Others, in tilling the land, sowing, plant- 
ing, harvesting, thrashing, and transporting the fruits of 
the earth to breweries and distilleries, to be manufactured 
into alcohol. Others are engaged in making vessels of 
various descriptions to hold the precious beverage when 
manufactured. Others are employed in chopping wood, 
making fires, drawing water, filling vats, and other manual 
exercises in the various processes of the work, too numer- 
ous to mention. 

All these different classes of laborers are engaged in a 
business which tends to promote the kingdom of Satan ; 
in conformity with his device, under his infernal superin- 
tendence, and " each one looking for his gain from his 
quarter." Hence, the love of money (which is the root 
of all evil) is evidently the alluring incitement, the en- 
chanting wile, and the predominant motive which influ- 



192 METHOD OF RECOMMENDATIONS. 

ences manufacturers of alcohol to drive forward their 
trade, preparatory to destruction, under the banner and in 
conformity with the device of Satan, the fell destroyer. 
Such is the nature of the business of the manufacturers of 
intoxicating liquors. 

We shall next consider the business of vending the arti 
cle of alcohol, when manufactured. Alcohol is manufac- 
tured first for sale. The traffic of intoxicating liquors is 
carried on both wholesale and retail. The first sale which 
is made of the article is by the principal manufacturers to 
wholesale merchants. 

It is common for articles of commerce to be recom- 
mended to purchasers, that they may know the nature, 
quality, and design of the article offered for sale. One 
circumstance, however, in the recommendation of alcohol, 
deserves special notice. The quality of the article is not 
branded on the outside of the cask or vessel containing the 
liquor, as is the case with barrels of flour and many other 
articles of commerce. But the signature, which is designed 
to describe its quality and use, is stamped on the inside 
of the cask with a liquid-branding instrument, heated with 
alcoholic fire, and inserted in fiery capitals. As it is diffi- 
cult to turn the inside of casks outward to exhibit the 
recommendations, the method adopted to test the quality 
is by injecting a small vessel called proof-glass into the 
bung of the cask, and the recommendatory parts of the 
contents within are thus drawn out ; so that the stamp, 
with the whole signature of recommendation, branded and 
warranted by the manufacturer, agent for King Alcohol's 
master, may appear conspicuous, and be understood with- 



. WARRANTED RECOMMENDATIONS. 193 

out mistake. Thus, every barrel of cider, cask of wine, 
beer, or distilled spirits, put up for use and offered for 
sale, has the signature of the manufacturer of the article 
affixed to it on the inside, as above described, in letters of 
alcoholic fire. On the application of the proof-glass, the 
following recommendations will be made to appear con- 
spicuous : 

Good, sweet, fermented cider, to learn little boys and 
girls the art of drinking weak, pleasant alcohol, instead of 
cold water, when they are dry, and also to create a thirst 
for drinking very often. Recommended by him who 
loves to see little boys and girls drink cider, that they 
may learn to be drunkards. 

Good hard cider, which will give any person such an 
appetite, that the more he drinks, the more he will want 
to drink. 

Also, good wine, compounded of various alcoholic 
sediments, drugs, and other ingredients, to give it high 
color and flavor ; and is elegant for ladies and gentlemen 
at the dinner-table, to toast away a pleasurable hour in 
hilarity ; good to produce excitement at a wedding party ; 
good to prepare both body and mind for attendance at the 
theater and house of sensuality ; and a most excellent arti- 
cle for the communion-table, for all members of temper- 
ance societies who love " mixed wine" in preference to the 
unfermented " fruit of the vine." Warranted, signed, and 
sealed, by A. B., his satanic majesty's agent and manufac- 
turer, at his wine factory and store, where is kept con- 
stantly on hand a warranted supply, for all the purposes 
above-mentioned . 

17 



194 ALCOHOLIC RECOMMENDATIONS. 

Furthermore, another test of the proof-glass exhibits 
good beer, made of the best kinds of grain, malted with 
water from a reservoir, enriched by the juice of a variety 
of carcasses of once living animals, in connection with the 
wash of a variety of very necessary out-buildings, all 
which have been manufactured in a superior manner by 
the power of fermentation, and is designed for the benefit 
of all who aspire to a state of corpulence, torpor, and idle- 
ness. Warranted to have the desired effect. N. B. A 
wholesale supply kept constantly on hand. 

Further recommendations obtained by the proof-glass. 

Good old Holland gin for the purpose of removing all 
kinds of aches and pains. 

Also, good St. Croix rum, for the purpose of opening 
all the internal secretions of the body, and of producing 
free perspiration. 

Good New England rum, fo.r the purpose of a temperate 
use on Saturday evenings, Sabbath mornings, before going 
to church, and at intermissions, to clear away the drowsy 
powers of the mind, to give freshness to the countenance, 
and agility to the step, that a prompt and honorable ap- 
pearance may be made in the house of the Lord. Also, a 
leetle draught or two after meeting, to sharpen the memory 
in recollecting the texts. And also, two or three more 
thorough draughts before going to bed, in order to settle 
the mind down in sweet forgetfulness of the past,4hat the 
visions of the blessed night may be pleasing, and prepara- 
tion be made in the morning for the commencement of a 
profitable six days' labor. Duly signed and warranted as 
above. 



THE HARD FINISH EXPLAINED. 195 

Also, good, well-refined whisky, for the purpose of rais- 
ing the steam of contention to the degree of pugnis et caU 
cibus (a war with weapons of foot and fist). As this kind 
of beverage is cheap and plenty, being manufactured out 
of nothing but wheat, corn, rye, potatoes, etc., large potions 
of it may be taken at a time, and often. The more fre- 
quently and copiously the doses are taken, the more cer- 
tain will be the effect. Warranted never to fail when 
duly applied. 

Also, good old Jamaica spirits, just to treat an old friend 
with a leetle temperately. And also a tierce of good old 
Cogniac, just to let a friend know what pure fire there is 
in his majesty's stock of alcoholic assortments, which, if 
taken in large draughts, and often, will so electrify the 
whole body from head to foot as to supersede the neces- 
sity of any other fire, except a candle to the mouth, which 
would cause an instantaneous explosion of the intestines, 
and extinguish the vitality of the corporeal system. War- 
ranted, by his majesty's special command. G. T., agent 
and manufacturer. 

But one more article will be noticed, which is French 
brandy, the cap of the climax of all alcoholic commodities, 
for putting the hard finish on all incorrigible drunkards 
who have passed through the regular degrees of his majes- 
ty's service, and are called upon to settle up their accounts, 
and receive their wages. This is one of the best of articles. 
It need only to be used in regular quantities, say from a 
gill to a half pint at a draught, to be taken as often as the 
appetite craves, day and night, at home and abroad, in 
city and country, in cold or heat, wet or dry, sick or well, 



196 CARGOES FOR THE COMMERCIAL WORLD. 

and the hard finish of "delirium tremens" will be on, 
speed i]y and in order, to deliver the carcass from any- 
further appetite, even for cold water. 

From such recommendations it would be natural to 
expect that the articles would find ready sale. This has 
been the fact. During centuries past, ardent spirits have 
constituted a prime commodity of commerce, and the 
wholesale traffic has been considered a heavy and lucrative 
branch of business in the commercial world. The impor- 
tation and exportation of intoxicating liquors from one 
nation to another, have furnished cargo for innumerable 
ships of the ocean, the lading and unlading of which have 
furnished employment for millions of mankind, with their 
teams and vehicles ; while thousands of stores, in city and 
country, have been prepared at great expense for the de- 
posit of the article, in wholesale quantities, that all neces- 
sary preparation might be made for another still more 
extensive branch of the business belonging to the traffic in 
ardent spirits, which is the retailing of the article, that the 
community at large may be favored with the benefit and 
privilege of the precious commodity. In this manner, the 
business descends from wholesale merchants to another 
class of traffickers, who buy the article in smaller quanti- 
ties for the purpose of supplying grocers, inn -keepers, and 
all of every description who engage in dealing out intoxi- 
cating liquors by the small measure, to those who wish to 
buy. 

Liquor-dealers by the small measure, are required to 
possess peculiar qualifications, and for the prosperity of 
such, a method i3 devised for their security in trade. The 



THE RUM-SELLER'S FACULTY. 197 

qualifications requisite, are external accommodations to 
suit all classes of mankind, and personal faculty to influ- 
ence them to buy liquor ; and the security pledged for 
their prosperity is the license law of the land to protect 
them. On each of these points, we shall spend a few mo- 
ments. 

Spacious houses and bar-rooms, parlors and dining- 
rooms, ball-rooms and bed-rooms, bottles and glasses, 
hosts and hostesses, hostlers, waiters, and servants, are the 
prided accommodations of some of the higher classes of 
liquor-dealers by the small measure, to suit great folks, 
who love to take a drop in style ; while others, to suit in- 
ferior classes, content themselves with any place they can 
obtain, large enough to hold bottles and glasses, a box of 
cigars, pipes, and tobacco, a bladder of snuff, a few stools 
and bunks, and room enough out doors for those who can 
not get into their shanty (or shebeen, as the sons of Erin 
used to call their rum-holes), and in such places alcohol is 
found for sale in abundance. 

Respecting the rum-seller's faculty to obtain customers, 
it would be a tax upon ingenuity itself to describe. By 
the help of imagination, however, something may be sug- 
gested in imitation of their bewitching allurements. To 
immortalize his name and profession, the retailer of alcohol 
causes them to be inscribed in large capitals on the pinna- 
cle of his sign-post, or Bohon Upas-tree, planted near his 
door, to invite the attention of travelers within the atmos- 
phere of his contagious poison. A rum-seeker spies it, 
turns in, and inquires of the man in the bar, What do you 
keep here good to drink ] He is answered, Good to drink? 



198 the liquor-dealer's creed. 

almost e\ery thing. Look at my bottles, see how they 
are marked, and suit yourself. You read "*em landlord. 
"Well, here, you see, are fifteen decanters, all full of the 
good stuff. They are all numbered and labeled as fol- 
lows : 

No. 1. Drink, if you are dry, and it will wet you. 

No. 2. Drink, if you are wet, and it will dry you. 

No. 3. Drink, if you are cold , and it will warm you. 

No. 4. Drink, if you are warm, and it will cool you. 

No. 5. Drink, if you are sad, and it will make you 

No. 6. Drink, if you are jolly, and it will keep you 
from being sad. 

No. 7. Drink, if you are rich, for you can afford it. 

No. 8. Drink, if you are poor, and you will soon feel 
rich. 

No. 9. Drink, if you are young, for now is the time to 
begin to learn. 

No. 10. Drink, if you are old, for you will soon have 
to stop drinking. 

No. 11. Drink, if you are in debt and in trouble, and you 
will soon forget your sorrows. 

No. 12. Drink, if your wife and children are at home 
freezing and starving, for your temperance neighbors will 
not let them suffer. 

No. 13. Drink to-day, if you die to-morrow. 

No. 14. Drink, if you have but your last sixpence in 
your pocket, for I want it. 

No. 15. Drink nothing, if you have no money ; for JSTo 
trust here, you see, is written on the door. 



A GOOD EUMSELLEe's CUSTOMER. 199 

Now, sir, which will you be helped to % 

Why, 'hem — landlord, I thinks they all suits my case 
zackly, an' I bleve I'll take a lee tie of all on 'em, 'cept the 
two last, for I has no money, an' I never wants to be trusted, 
landlord ! 

See what a good, frank, open-hearted, conscientious cus- 
tomer is gained by the phiz and tact of the rum-seller ! 
And for that very reason, his majesty, Beelzebub, the im- 
perial master of King Alcohol, always endeavors to select 
such agents for retailers of alcohol, and has devised a plan 
for their security in trade. The plan devised was to influ- 
ence the supreme law-givers of nations to enact " license 
laws" to give legal sanction to the business of vending 
alcoholic liquors, and secure the traffic of the article in the 
hands of retailers, for whose benefit the license law has 
been enacted. And the cap of the climax of this consum- 
mate plan of legalizing the sale of ardent spirits was, that 
the license law should be furnished with a security to pre- 
vent its repeal, by such construction of its internal ma- 
chinery as to make it auxiliary to the support of itself by 
a revenue arising from the sale of licenses to retailers. 

Thus far, the satanic device and human experiment of 
its practicability has succeeded. License laws have been 
enacted, and are still in force, under various administrations 
of government. In our beloved country, the law now 
virtually decrees that traffickers of every grade and de- 
scription who pay for license to vend intoxicating liquors 
are engaged in a laivful business, and shall be protected by 
the laws of their country, be the consequences resulting to 
community what they may. 



200 ADVOCATES OF THE LIQTOPv LICENSE LAW. 

In the exercise of this legal right,. the various species of 
alcohol are brought to the retailer's door by the thousands 
of liquor panderers, who are engaged in hawking the article 
from city to city, from village to village, and from town to 
town, throughout the length and breadth of the land, urged 
on- by the specious doctrine, that the greater the quantity 
sold, the greater will be the revenue for the support of the 
government, the less will be the taxes, and the more 
wealthy will be the country ; not considering the appalling 
fact that the revenue arising from the sale of licenses is 
the paltry price of the consequent loss of millions of bodies 
and souls of men ! the price of rivers of widow's tears ! 
and the price of a legal system of productive orphanage 
by which millions of unprotected children are thrown upon 
the charity of the world around them, to be nourished in 
life, or to die ! 

This device of Beelzebub, the prince of devils, the father 
of lies, and the contriver of all mischief, has been carried 
into execution with triumphant acclamation. The license 
law is applauded by all manufacturers aud venders of 
alcohol; it is applauded by all loafers, tipplers, and drunk- 
ards; by all haters of morality and despisers of religious 
ordinances; yea, doubtless, the license law is applauded 
by all Sabbath-breakers, profane swearers, pickpockets, 
highway robbers, and murderers. Thousands of the above 
classes would, doubtless, harness for the field of battle, and 
hazard fortune, and life, and body, and the future destinies 
of the immortal soul, in a war for the protection of the 
celebrated license lav:. Those who question its expediency- 
are hooted at as disturbers of the public tranquillity. Pe- 



CONSUMERS OF ALCOHOL. 201 

titioners for its repeal are opposed from every quarter. 
And thus the matter stands, based on the preposterous 
sophism, " What is legally right, can not be morally 
wrong !" 

The conclusion of the whole matter is obvious, that vend- 
ers of intoxicating liquors for common beverage, from the 
highest to the lowest grade, are doing the work of Satan 
wholesale and retail ; that the laws to sustain them are 
in accordance with the device of the adversary ; that the 
whole business tends to the destruction of mankind ; and 
that all who engage in it are hazarding their own eternal 
interest in common with those who are decoyed by them 
into the way of ruin. 

Consumers of alcohol come next under our considera- 
tion. This is the most pitiable class of mankind. They 
labor not for money, but to spend it, and to make them- 
selves miserable. For them, alcohol is made. To them 
it is sold, and obtained often for their last penny, for the 
last article of property which they can call their own ; for 
the subsequent drudgery of life, as long as they are able to 
drudge ; and by begging for it, when all other resources 
fail. But who can describe this unhappy portion of man- 
kind, who are taken in the net of the destroyer. " Their 
name is legion, for they are many? Their appetite, when 
formed, is as insatiable as the grave, which forever cries 
"give, give? Their woes are pangs of hell within them. 
Alas ! they labor for a master who plots to deceive them. 
They toil in wretchedness for the wages of death ! 

That the number of consumers of ardent spirits is very 
great, must be evident from the quantity of spirits annually 



202 INTOXICATING LIQUORS ANNUALLY CONSUMED. 

consumed. Various measures have been adopted to ascer- 
tain facts in relation to the quantity of intoxicating liquors 
annually consumed in the United States, the average cost 
of said liquors, the effects produced on consumers, and the 
amount of annual loss to the community in general by the 
consumption of ardent spirits. Though perfect accuracy can 
not be expected in such estimations, yet the following may 
be relied on as a medium statement of facts resulting from 
a variety of laborious researches, and much careful inves- 
tigation. 

From actual returns at the treasury of the United States, 
from custom-house books, and estimations made by manu- 
facturers, the quantity of intoxicating liquors annually 
consumed in the United States during a number of years 
since the commencement of the present century, has aver- 
aged about sixty millions of gallons, including both im- 
ported and home-manfactured spirits, and exclusive of 
cider and some other fermented liquors ! Pause, and con- 
sider for a moment, the import of this alarming fact. 
Sixty millions of gallons of ardent spirits, alcoholic lava, 
deadly poison, made by somebody, sold by somebody, and 
actually poured down the throats of somebody, within the 
boundary of the United States in one year ! and the same 
on an average for a number of years ! Sixty millions of 
gallons, equal to five hundred thousand hogsheads, suffi- 
cient to form a float-line of hogsheads, touching end to end, 
the whole length of Lake Erie, and hogsheads to spare ! 
Sixty millions of gallons of intoxicating liquors, enough to 
fill a canal of four feet in width, and two feet in depth, 
which would be abundantly sufficient to transport a big 



COST OF LIQUORS ANNUALLY CONSUMED. 203 

canoe-load of liquor manufacturers, venders, and consumers 
all together, a voyage of one hundred and eighty-nine 
miles and a half and twenty rods ! Sixty millions of 
gallons of ardent spirits consumed in one year in the United 
States ; in a nation professing Christianity, under the sanc- 
tion of professedly Christian laws, and by the agency of 
many Christian professors ! O, tell it not in Gath ! 
Publish it not in the streets of Askelon, for any other pur- 
pose than to produce a conviction of its enormity ! 

The cost of this immense quantity of liquor, at the 
average price of fifty cents per gallon, amounts to thirty 
millions of dollars, sufficient, if spread out in one dollar 
bills, end to end, to stretch a bank-bill paper line more 
than halfway round the boundary line of the United States ; 
and, if computed in silver dollars, allowing each to weigh 
one ounce Troy weight, the specie would be sufficient to 
load one thousand two hundred and fifty wagons for two 
horse teams, each with the burden of one ton weight. 
O, think, one thousand two hundred and fifty ton loads of 
silver dollars, the price of liquor consumed in one year in 
these United States ! 

The annual consumption of such an amazing quantity of 
liquor has filled the country, in years past, with almost as 
many occasional drinkers as there were persons in the nation 
to drink. Time was when almost every family kept some 
kind of liquor in their house for their own use, and to treat 
their friends. The legitimate result was, that a great pro- 
portion of occasional drinkers became tipplers, a great pro- 
portion of tipplers became hard drinkers, and it has been esti- 
mated that, from the numerous class of hard drinkers, about 



204 DRUNKARDS AND DOLLARS LOST. 

555,000 annually became drunkards, at the expense of 
loss of reputation, derangement in business, loss of pro- 
perty, loss of domestic enjoyments ; and, in return, have 
inherited domestic wretchedness, hunger, rags, contention, 
blows, blood, divorce, pauperism in alms-houses, indict- 
ments for the commission of capital crimes, imprisonment, 
trials before courts of justice, and sentence to fines, peni- 
tentiaries, or the gallows. And it has been farther esti- 
mated that, from the class of drunkards, in years past, about 
thirty or forty thousand annually closed their earthly ex- 
istence, and inherited the drunkard's grave and the drunk- 
ard's perdition, who " can not inherit the kingdom of God !" 
The annual amount of loss to the community in general, 
in years past, by the consumption of ardent spirits, pre- 
sents an item worthy of national humiliation. The Hon. 
Benjamin F. Butler, late Attorney-General of the United 
States, has estimated the annual cost of spirit drinking in 
the United States, during a series of years past, at the 
amazing sum of one hundred millions of dollars. Including 
cost of liquor, loss of time, and various other items of ex- 
pense, uniformly connected with intemperate habits, it is 
considered that the above computation is far within the 
bounds of probable facts. Pause again, and wonder. 
$100,000,000 annually expended ! For what ? Nothing 
to advance the interest of the nation — but to load it with 
infamy, crime, vexation, and misery ! The good that might 
be done with it, we shall not attempt to compute. One 
thing is certain, that the whole loss and taxation resulting 
from the consumption of alcohol, be that amount what it 
may, including the support of the thousands of widows 



IMPORTANT QUESTION AND ANSWER. 205 

and wretched offspring of departed drunkards, must fall as 
a dead weight of loss on the general community, and must 
be paid out of the common stock of national wealth. 

Such, fellow-citizens, are the undeniable and deplorable 
effects of the consumption of intoxicating liquors. And 
thus we have shown, that the manufacture, sale, and con- 
sumption of ardent spirits, with all their attendant infamy" 
and consummate wretchedness, both here and hereafter, 
belong to a systematical device of the great adversary for 
the destruction of mankind. Consequently, manufactu- 
rers, venders, and consumers of alcoholic liquors are all 
engaged to promote that system of Satan which tends in- 
evitably to their own destruction. 

But, in conclusion, we inquire : Is there no remedy for 
the complicated evils above enumerated? We answer: 
There is a remedy — a heart-rejoicing, life-preserving, and 
soul-saving remedy — abundantly provided in the pledge of 
total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, in conformity 
with the constitution of the American Temperance Society. 
The amount of the remedy prescribed is this, that if the 
whole community, en masse, will subscribe the temperance 
pledge, and live up to its principles, all the evils arising 
from the use of ardent spirits will be averted, and our earth 
will become a sober world. To consummate this glorious 
achievement is the object of the Temperance Reformation, 
and its consummation will be effected just as soon as all 
mankind can be persuaded to apply the remedy prescribed. 

Hence, all now that prevents the immediate and entire 
consummation of the Temperance Reformation of this spirit- 
drinking world, is the opposition that exists to the pledge 

18 



206 OPPOSERS OF THE TEMPERANCE REFORM. 

of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors. There 
are certain classes of rational beings who are opposed to 
the Temperance Reformation on the principles of total ab- 
stinence. As the reformation contemplated is considered 
of the utmost importance, and, as the different classes of 
opposers alluded to constitute the principal hindrances to 
be removed out of the way, that the reformation may be 
consummated, it becomes a subject of paramount import- 
ance to inquire specifically the amount of the impediments, 
and to find out, adopt, and pursue the best possible mea- 
sures to remove them. 

Opposers of the Temperance Reformation are comprised 
in four classes: 1. Satan, and his angels; 2. Manufac- 
turers of alcohol ; 3. Venders of the article ; and 4. Con- 
sumers, consisting of occasional drinkers, daily tipplers, 
hard drinkers, and confirmed drunkards. These classes, 
it is believed, include all the opposers of temperance, be- 
cause temperance is obviously so good a cause, that no in- 
dividual of mankind can understanding^ be opposed to it, 
unless, directly or indirectly, he is interested in the manu- 
facture or sale of alcohol, or, in a greater or less degree, a 
consumer of the article. If there is an interest at stake, 
less or more in favor of the manufacture or traffic, which 
the proprietor will not abandon, this is sufficient to consti- 
tute him an opposer of the Temperance Reformation. The 
same fact will apply to individuals in all the different grades 
of consumers of alcohol. So long as the confirmed drunk- 
ard will not abandon his course, he is an opposer of tem- 
perance. So long as the hard drinker will not forsake his 
way, he is an opposer of temperance, and is trudging along 



OBSTRUCTIONS TO BE REMOVED. 207 

in the highway to drunkenness. So long as the tippler 
will not cease from the daily and almost hourly practice 
of sipping the poison that will destroy him, he sets his 
face against the temperance cause, and must be ranked 
with its opposers. 

And even the occasional drinker, who claims the right 
and liberty ', and reserves to himself the privilege of taking 
his glass of cider, beer, or distilled spirits, at his own dis- 
cretion, when he is cold or warm, fatigued, wet, dumpish, 
or thirsty ; or takes his glass of alcoholic wine at the salu- 
tation of friends, at the public or private dinner-table, wed- 
ding party, or any other occasion whatever, except as a 
medicine ; and, for the sake of retaining the claims of 
right, liberty, and privileges above named, actually refuses 
to sign the pledge of total abstinence, and thus withholds 
his example and influence from the promotion of the cause 
of temperance — I repeat it, even such an occasional drinker 
(though not in the front rank, of temperance opposers), 
must be considered as stationed in the rear rank, on ad- 
vance to the front, and whatever influence he possesses 
among men is thrown into the scale opposite to the cause 
of temperance. 

Such is the amount of obstructions to be removed be- 
fore the Temperance Reformation can be consummated. As 
long as Satan can sustain his device to destroy mankind, 
he will do it. As long as manufacturers of alcohol can 
sell their commodity, they will continue to make it. As 
long as retailers can find customers to swallow their poison, 
they will continue their pernicious traffic. How, then, are 
these fountains of death to be dried up but by the univer- 



208 AXE AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE. 

sal prevalence of total abstinence. This is the axe at the 
root of the tree, and the only effectual method of extermi- 
nating the evils of intemperance from the world. 

Hence, if T could raise my voice to be heard round this 
globe of earth, I would say, first, to all who make no use 
of intoxicating liquors of any kind, sign the pledge of total 
abstinence, and give to the cause of temperance your exam- 
ple and influence, from the smallest child that can read, to 
the oldest person in community, both male and female. 
Next, I would say to consumers of alcohol, of every grade, 
from the most moderate, occasional drinker, to the con- 
firmed drunkard, " Come, and let us reason together." Is 
it not wiser and better to resist your appetite, set down 
your glass, dash your bottles and jugs of liquor to pieces, 
and abandon at once and forever your intoxicating cups of 
poison and death, than to continue in the gratification of 
your sensualities, at the expense of all that is, or can be 
dear to you on earth, and all that is joyful and glorious in 
heaven 1 Come, say, is it not better to join the total ab- 
stinence temperance society, and drink water on earth, 
and the water of eternal life in heaven, than to continue 
the use of intoxicating liquors till death, and inherit the 
drunkard's grave, and the drunkard's eternity, " where the 
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," and where 
not a drop of alcohol can be found, nor even a drop of cold 
water to cool the tongue in ceaseless anguish % 

If the favorable response of all consumers of alcohol to 
the foregoing solemn interrogations could be obtained 
thus, "As rational beings, we are bound to glorify our 
Creator, and secure our best and eternal interest, neither 



THE MASTER-SPIRITS ARE WITHOUT HOPE. 209 

of which can be done while we continue in the use of alco- 
hol. The conclusion, therefore, is, that we will abandon 
at once and forever the use of alcohol, sign the total absti- 
nence temperance pledge, and hereafter give to the blessed 
cause of temperance our example, our influence, our tal- 
ents, our efforts, and our prayers while we live, and leave 
them as a legacy to our children when we die. O, if con- 
sumers of alcohol would thus yield, if such a point could 
be gained (which God grant may yet speedily be effected), 
then there would be none left in opposition to the temper- 
ance cause, but Satan and his angels, and liquor-makers 
and liquor-sellers. Of the master-spirits from whose lead- 
er the device of intemperance originated, there is no hope 
of reformation, for the book of God's revelation informs 
us, that they are reserved in chains of darkness unto the 
judgment of the great day. From them nothing can be 
expected but opposition to temperance and every good 
thing. 

But manufacturers and venders of alcohol are in the 
land of hope. And if all prospects of gain from their 
business were annihilated by the universal reformation of 
all consumers of their commodity, it might then be hoped 
that they, too, would reform, abandon their trade and traf- 
fic, and unite in the universal Temperance Reformation. 
But, should they still plead stock on hand, as an excuse 
for refusing to sign the pledge of total abstinence, the alter- 
native of two things only would be left for their decision, 
viz. ; on their refusal to pour it out upon the earth, or into 
the ocean, as a libation to Bacchus or Neptune, or even to 
sacrifice it in a bonfire to Moloch, it must of course remain 



210 TEMPERANCE IS KEVEALED TRUTH FULFILLED. 

for them to decide either to drink it all themselves, or 
hoard it as the object of their idolatrous worship ! 

However improbable the event may appear to the in- 
credulous, the temperance cause is destined in the provi- 
dence of God to progress and prosper, until the earth shall 
be delivered from the curse of intemperance, and this de- 
vice of the adversary shall be utterly overthrown. The 
book of God reveals this divine decree, " For this purpose 
(we are there told) the Son of God was manifested, that 
He might destroy the works of the devil." Intemperance 
is a work of the devil. " The enemy has come in like a 
flood," to destroy mankind by intemperance. But i; the 
Spirit of the Lord has lifted up a standard against him," 
by the providential organization of a temperance society. 
The Temperance Reformation is a work of God. The two- 
edged sword of His eternal truth is the weapon which 
effectually levels the works of the adversary. Under the 
auspices of Divine Providence, and by* the instrumen- 
tality of means divinely ordained, the Temperance Reform- 
ation will go forward in spite of opposition, till the earth 
is redeemed from the curse of strong drink. 

In the primary stages of the temperance organization it 
was " like a grain of mustard-seed" germinating among ten 
thousand weeds, or a cloud in the atmosphere " like a. man's 
handy But the little seed has grown to a tree, casting its 
fruit of benignity over the nations of the earth, and the little 
cloud like a man's hand has spread out over a great por- 
tion of the earth, and is pouring down its waters in streams 
of salvation, to put out the fires of alcoholic desolation. 
Thirty-six years ago [1344], an ordinary school-house, in 



BY THIS BATTLE-AXE KING ALCOHOL MUST DIE. 211 

a thinly-settled country town, in the county of Saratoga, 
in this State, was abundantly sufficient to accommodate 
all the pledged members of temperance then existing, or 
known by them to exist on the earth, and when convocated 
in their school-room, not an individual female was of their 
number, to cheer them in their almost hopeless enterprise, 
and few, except the brotherhood, forty-three in number, 
deemed it worth their pains to give attendance to the 
measures adopted for the promotion of such a novel insti- 
tution. But now, may we not say with grateful emphasis, 
Behold what the Lord has done already for the renovation 
of this intemperate world ! Since the organization of the 
American Temperance Union, and the uniform adoption 
of the total abstinence pledge, a new era has ushered into 
the world of light and prosperity to the temperance cause. 
God has recently taught us, in His providence, that temper- 
ance was not destined to linger on mere preventive prin- 
ciples ; but, by the mighty power of Him " who worketh 
all things after the counsel of His own will," the most 
hopeless drunkards can be reformed, and be used as instru- 
ments of reforming thousands of others in geometrical pro- 
gression. Let the work thus go on, and soon alcohol will 
be banished from the universe. In heaven, the intoxicating 
poison is never used ; no drunkards can ever enter there. 
And though hell may be crowded with unreformed drunk- 
ards, and temperate lovers of wine and strong drink, yet 
not a drop will there be found to gratify the propensity 
of the insatiable appetite, nor even a drop of cold water to 
quench their ever-increasing thirst. 

The following is a subjoined improvement of the fore- 



212 KLN T G ALCOHOL'S FUNERAL CHARGES ESTIMATED. 

going subject, selected from a tract issued by the Ameri- 
can Temperance Union, in 1852. 

LOOK AT YOUR TAXES. 

One day, while walking the streets of Albany, Mr. E. 
C. Delavan met a friend, whom he thus accosted : " Mr. 
C, do you know there is a mortgage on your property?*' 
" Why, no, sir," said Mr. C, " my property is free and 
unincumbered." " But there is a mortgage upon it," said 
Mr. Delavan. u I have examined the records, and I find 
that you pay $1,000 taxes, and over $600 of that goes to 
pay for intemperance. Your property is mortgaged to 
the rum-sellers of Albany for $10,000, and you have to' pay 
the interest every year ; and, if you were to die to-morrow, 
it w T ould go to your heirs with that incumbrance, and they 
w : ould have to pay the interest regularly, or it would be 
sold by the sheriff." 

Here, then, was an astounding truth developed to Mr. 
C, and, if it was truth to Mr. C, it is no less so to every 
property-holder in the State of New York. We invite 
such to contemplate it. Look at it unflinchingly, ye who 
groan under the burdens of taxation. See for whom it is 
that ye gain money in the sweat of your brow ; by whom 
it is wrested from you, and who they are that are fattening 
on your toils. 

That we reason not at random, we take you to tne Re- 
port of the legislative committee on the Excise question 
in March, 1850. From returns, says the report made to 
the Secretary of State, the cost of pauperism in 1849 was 
$817,441. Of this, the Eeport estimates $670,143 for ! ^ 



LOOK AT YOUR TAXES. 213 

temperance. Were there no dram-shops and no intem- 
perance, the whole cost of supporting the poor would be 
but $147,298. Taxation for crime, says the report, it is 
difficult to estimate. One trial for murder has recently 
cost the county of Albany $600. Another, the county of 
Orleans, $1,000. Nearly all the business of grand juries, 
sheriffs, constables, and almost the entire police system in 
all the cities, is chargeable to intemperance. People of 
the Empire State ! have not the liquor-sellers a mortgage 
on your property, and do they not wrench from you, year 
after year, the fruit of your hard labors ? But to come to 
dties and counties. W. Edmonds, Esq., Warden of the 
Tombs in the City of New York, reported, in 1849, 18,042 
commitments. Of these, 4,207 males, and 4,748 females, 
were charged with the grossest and most debasing intoxi- 
cation ; 3,495 persons were imprisoned for acts committed 
in a state of intoxication ; 2,246 were vagrants, each a 
common vagabond, sent to the penitentiary, because unfit 
for the alms-house ; 231 lunatics, deprived of their rea- 
son by rum; 228 houseless persons cast upon public 
charity by the intemperance of themselves or others — 
near three fourths of those for whose support taxes were to 
be levied upon the property-holders of the city. Look 
into the country. In Herkimer County were, in 1849, 
1,739 drunken paupers, according to the report of the 
superintendents of the poor, for whom a tax was levied of 
$10,750 ; or $565 19, to each of its 19 towns, are caused 
by about 147 liquor-sellers. Were they, instead of the 
people, taxed to support the drunken poor, the tax on each 
would have been $73 19, whereas the most they paid was 



214: TAXES ARE W \T)E BY TEE LIQEOPw-TEADE. 

$5 for license, leaving the people to pay *63 19. that they 
might make money and support their familk r. If 

each vender received $250 a year for his liquors, it amount- 
ed, in the aggregate, to §36,750. enough to build a school- 
house in every town in the county, worth $1,006. hire a 
teacher, and pay him $30 a month, and leave $607 10 for 
libraries, appara In Ulster County, $15,000 were 

levied in 1845. which would not have been needed without 

nperance. In Tioga County, the taxes for pauperism 
and crime averaged, for six years. $14,000; three fourths 
were attributed to intemperance. In 54 years, in Living- 
ston County. |58,814 12 were levied upon the people for 
the poor and criminal justice : $44,140 60 of this, accord- 
ing t my of George Hastings, Esq., Dis 
Attorney, were for intemperance. In Orange County, the 
Board of Supervisors charged the county $8,047, 65 
general fund ; $9,000 to pay judges and jurors ; poor 
fund, $12,000. Of this. $8,000 was for intemper; : 
A drunken father in that county placed his little daughter 
upon an ox-sled, and, rudely whipping his cattle, they 
rushed to the roadside, threw off the child, and made her a 
cripple, and she has been supported in the poor-house 
more than twenty years; the taxpayer, and not the rum- 
seller, footing the bills. Is not your proper": mort- 

3 1 to the liquor-sellers for the support of their busi- 
nesa \ You know it is. While they are suffered to 
drunkenness, poverty, and crime of the most horrid char- 
acter will continue a burden upon the State. But we 
have net yet tcld you the worst of your state. Xot only 



TAXES ARE LEVIED OX YOUR SONS. 215 

is there a mortgage upon your property, but a proscrip- 
tion upon your sons. 

When Napoleon was rising to the height of his power, 
and trampling down the nations by his iron foot, he de- 
manded every tenth young man, when of age, for his 
armies ; and sometimes he anticipated one, two, and even 
three years, under the plea that his interests demanded it. 
O what weeping and wailing was there as the young con- 
scripts were dragged from their homes ! People of the 
Empire State ! in as merciless a tyranny, and one no less 
irresistible and certain, the rum-sellers of the State have a 
mark upon your sons. By examinations it has been found 
that one in thirty of our best population have been con- 
verted into common drunkards ; that the farming districts 
have lost in deaths by intemperance about thirty per cent, 
among the male adults ; the village about fifty ; that of 
six hundred and eighty maniacs in various asylums, four 
hundred owed their loss of reason to intoxicating liquors ; 
and that four hundred out of six hundred juvenile delin- 
quents either drank themselves, or were the children of 
drinking parents. Yes ! Rum-sellers have a merciless 
proscription upon your children. You must not only give 
them your property, but your sons. They will drag them 
from your dwellings before the eyes of fathers and mothers, 
and throw them into loathsome dungeons, and put them 
to early deaths. They are doing it every day and every 
hour. They fill up your grave-yards, and Eachael refuses to 
be comforted, because her children are not. How long will 
you sulTer it % How long shall the terrific power rage, and 
rend, and devour] It promises you compensation for its 



216 COMPARISON OP TAXES. 

license. But what compensation can it make for your 
stolen property — -what for your lost sons ? Why license, 
why permit it at all % What are your school taxes, your 
taxes for the gospel, your taxes for public improvement 
and for protection ? Not to be named with rum taxes, and 
all cheerfully paid, because pouring into your bosoms rich 
blessings. 

And then, again, your voluntary taxation — money spent 
by yourselves and the people of America for intoxicating 
liquors. We ask you to look at that, and see how igno- 
miniously you bend to the rum-sellers' yoke. 

The common-school fund of the State of New York, the 
literature fund, the bank fund, would not pay the cost of 
liquor drank in the country in twenty-five days. The 
American Bible Society did not cost the country so much 
in twenty-four years of its operation, as has strong drink 
in seventeen days. The inhabitants of the Empire State 
now tax themselves voluntarily every year, twenty-six 
millions of dollars, in addition to what they are compelled 
to pay in direct taxes for strong drink, enough to build each 
year an Erie Canal and Croton Water- works. You are a 
father with a dependent little family around you. You 
find it perhaps difficult to feed and clothe them. Do you use 
six-and-a-quarter cents' worth of liquor a day, you volun- 
tarily tax yourself twenty-two dollars a year for that 
which is to you of no essential value 1 The money saved, 
might give them more comforts than you can readily 
imagine, besides saving you from destruction. This mort- 
gage upon your estate you can lift in a moment, by 
adopting the total abstinence principle. And you can lift 



TEMPERANCE REDUCES TAXES* 217 

the other also, ye yoemen of the Empire State, if ye will. 
Your sister, Maine, has done it. She will have no rum- 
seller in her borders. She will have no taxes created by 
the trade, no men made paupers nor excited to crime. 
The two millions of dollars she has squandered upon in- 
toxicating liquors, she has wisely resolved she will expend 
upon her farms and her houses, her schools, her churches, 
for the improvement and advancement of the State. The 
rights of trade will, it is possible, interpose a veto. But 
what are the rights of trade ? Never the right to traffic in 
an article which spreads desolation through the community. 
If the people will not demand by legislation protection to 
themselves and their children from this enormous taxation, 
laid for no good object, but for one full of evil, they de- 
serve to be hewers of wood and drawers of water to the 
most useless and despicable class of traders. How can 
they plead on the Fourth of July a descent from men who 
would not pay a paltry tax on tea because it was laid 
without their consent ? Who of you consents to the enor- 
mous rum taxes you pay % All who consent to the license 
system and the continuance of the traffic. Wake, then, to 
a sense of the burdens which are upon you. Use no vio- 
lence to burst the chains ; but go steadily and firmly to the 
polls, and it will dissolve away before the indignant voice 
of a people resolved to be free. 

INTEMPERANCE AND CRIME. 

Two neighbors in North Carolina, met in a grog-shop. 
They and their wives and children were industrious and 
friendly, and, had there been no grog-shop there, might have 
19 



218 BLOOD, MURDER, AXD EXECUTION. 

continued so to the end of life. But there they were 
tempted to drink and become drunken. From drunken- 
ness, they proceeded to quarrelling and fighting, when one 
of them seized a flail and knocked the other down, and 
continued his blows until he literally beat him to death. It 
was rum that did it. 

In Baltimore, a man ordinarily kind in his family, went 
home drunk at midnight, knocked first in the head a lovely 
daughter of fifteen, and cut her throat, then his little boy 
four years of age, and then set fire to his house, and cut his 
own throat. The alarm was given as the blaze issued from 
the building — the neighbors rushed to the spot, broke open 
the dwelling, and beheld the awful spectacle. 

Two young men in Utica, Horace B. Concklin, and 
James Orcut, under the excitement of liquor, put fire to 
buildings, endangering life and all the city. Both were 
tried, convicted, and condemned to death. Said the judge 
to Orcut, " Your perversity in crime, and your coolness in 
its commission, can only be accounted for by your visits to 
billiard tables, and bowling alleys, and partaking in the 
dissipation of each, until every passion had been stimulated 
to the utmost." 

James Wall and Aaron B. Stookey were recently exe- 
cuted in New York city for the crime of murder. " Your 
habits of intemperance," said the judge to Wall. ;i have 
done it." And to Stookey, " To drink, you owe your 
crime. In the merest wantonness, you stabbed your vic- 
tim to the heart." 

Said Governor Hunt, in his message to the Legislature 
of New York in 1852, "An extraordinary number of capi- 



INTEMPERANCE, MURDER, EXECUTION. 219 

tal offenses, and a considerable Increase in other crimes, 
have made the last a memorable year in the judicial annals 
of the State. This melancholy fact must be attributed, in 
a large degree, to the prevalence of intemperance in our 
cities and larger towns — a growing evil, which has become 
the most prolific source of w 7 retchedness, pauperism, and 
crime." 

In the city of New York, there were 18,458 arrests 
during the six months ending with December 31, 1851, 
consisting mostly of persons in a state of intoxication, or 
guilty of crime resulting therefrom. There were sixteen 
persons arrested for murder, making thirty-six committed 
for that offense during the year. In 1849, there were com- 
mitted to the prisons in thirty-nine counties of the State, 
36,114 persons who had committed crime under the influ- 
ence of intoxication. The sheriff of Albany says, " eight- 
tenths of all commitments here, are in consequence of the 
use and sale of rum." The sheriff of Dutchess : " four- 
fifths of the criminals committed here, are intemperate, 
and their crime is immediately or indirectly the fruit of 
their propensity." The sheriff of Erie : u During the seve- 
ral years that I have kept the jail, nine-tenths of all the 
crime committed has had its origin in intemperance." The 
sheriff of Niagara : " three-fourths of the petit offenses 
have been committed while under the influence of intoxi- 
cating liquor." The police justice of Buffalo reports that, 
"for several years, intemperance has been the cause of 
nine-tenths of all the crime brought to his notice." And 
so in other States. In 1848, the keeper of the prison in 
Hartford, Conn., was asked what proportion of commit- 



220 ALLIANCE OF INTEMPERANCE AND CRIME. 

ments owe their origin to intemperance? He replied 
ninety per cent. To the same inquiry, the keeper of the 
prison at Norwich replied, seventy-five per cent. In Mas- 
sachusetts, were lodged in a single year 570 in the State 
prison, 10,661 in jails and houses of correction, and 310 in 
the reform school; and three-fourths of these 12,000 
crimes were the fruits of intemperance. And so has it 
ever been. Sir Matthew Hale, after twenty years' obser- 
vation, declared, " That if all the murders, and manslaugh- 
ters, and burglaries, and robberies, and riots, and tumults, 
the adulteries, and fornications, and rapes, and other great 
enormities which had been committed within that time, 
were divided into five parts, four would be found to have 
been the result of intemperance." 

Rum and murder go hand in hand. Alcohol, a most 
subtle poison, quickens and maddens every nerve. When 
the glass is emptied, it would seem as though a thousand 
serpents, too small to be seen by the naked eye, went 
spitting and darting their scorpion influence through the 
whole man, body and soul, turning the husband into a de- 
mon, the father into a fiend. No deed is too bad to be 
committed; and in the awful frenzies of the moment, the 
wretched murderer often feels that he is acting in his own 
defense. He cuts his own throat, believing that thus he 
shall be relieved from misery, and reach heaven. 

Young man ! behold the effects of strong drink, and 
shun the first glass as you would the anaconda or the 
bloody hyena. If you can drink and be sober, you can, 
too, if yQti#drink, imbue your hands in a brother's blood. 
Thousands^ have done it — once innocent as yourself — and 



RUM BROUGHT ME HERE. 221 

on the gallows have expiated their crime. " Oh," said one 
young man, as paleness gathered on his brow, and destruc- 
tion and terror shook his frame, while the executioner 
stood ready to execute the dreadful stroke, " It tvas rum 
that brought me hereP Think not that God will not hold 
you responsible for your drunken deeds. He will ; and 
He will hold you responsible for becoming a drunkard, 
and yielding to the first temptations. 

Tax-payers ! whence come your heaviest burdens % Go 
and examine the cost of your prisons, and courts, and 
juries, and sheriffs, and constables, and trials, and execu- 
tions, and set down two thirds of all you pay to grog-shop 
influence. 

Property-holders ! your possessions are not safe while 
the drunken man is abroad in the streets. He may fire 
your buildings, and burn cities ; he may maim your cat- 
tle ; he may strand your ships upon the coast ; he may 
dash your rail-cars in pieces. The destruction of property 
through strong drink is beyond all computation. 

Legislators ! to you the people look for protection. 
What is the end of civil government but protection % 
Why are you constituted law-makers, but to ward off the 
assassin's knife, to arrest the burglar's arm % You protect 
us in part. You punish the murderer with death. You 
shut up the dangerous man in prison for life. But the 
people ask further protection — protection from the vend- 
ers and their business. The supply creates the demand. 
Four fifths of our criminals are made criminals by the 
grog-shop. You see it ; you know it. Your courts, your 
grand juries declare it. Said Judge Johnson, of Georgia, 



222 GIVE US A MAINE LAW. 

in sentencing G. D. Cornet to death, for murder, Septem- 
ber, 1851, "Nor shall the place be forgotten in which 
occurred this shedding of blood. It was in one of the 
thousand ante-chambers of hell, which mar, like plague- 
spots, the fair face of our State. You need not be told 
that I mean a tippling-shop — the meeting-place of Satan's 
minions, and the foul cess-pool which, by spontaneous 
generation, breeds and nurtures all that is loathsome and 
disgusting in profanity, and babbling, and vulgarity, and 
Sabbath-breaking. I would not be the owner of a grog- 
gery for the price of this globe converted into precious ore." 
Is it not high time that these sinks of vice and crime 
should be held rigidly accountable to the laws of the land, 
and placed under the ban of an enlightened and virtuous 
public opinion? Give, O give us a Maine Law, is the 
cry from one end of the land to the other ; a law which 
shall pour the venomous liquor upon the earth, and render 
elsewhere, as in that State, jails and penitentiaries useless. 
License no longer blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking, rapine, 
arson, murder. Give us a Maine Law — a Maine Law. 

POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE MAINE LAW. 

What is political economy 1 Answer : such a manage- 
ment of public affairs as is for the public prosperity. Does 
a canal or a railroad cost more than it brings to the State ? 
It is not political economy to build it. Does a legislative 
act deprive the country of some great source of wealth? 
It is not an act of political economy. How is it with the 
Maine Law ? Is it an act of political economy ? It may 
prevent degradation and suffering. It may promote do- 



LET THE QUESTION BE EXAMINED. 223 

mestic peace and public virtue. But how is it as a matter 
of political economy ? Will it add to the resources of the 
State 1 Will it increase its agricultural and commercial 
prosperity ? Will it not, on the other hand, be its severest 
foe ? Can any Legislature, on the ground of true political 
economy, pass such a law ? Let the question be examined. 
1. Wherein and to what extent is the traffic in intoxicating 
liquors as a beverage a producer to individuals or the 
State % It is manifestly a producer to the agriculturist, 
furnishing a market for his corn, and rye, and barley, and 
hops, which he sends to the distillery and brewery. It is 
a producer to the distiller and the brewer, who make the 
liquor and send it forth to the community. It is a pro- 
ducer to the importer, who brings cargoes from foreign 
countries. It is a producer to the coppersmith and the 
cooper, to canals and railroads, to boatmen and wagoners, 
to porters and ship-owners, to owners of buildings for 
storage and sale. It is lastly and pre-eminently a pro- 
ducer to the hotel-keeper, the taverner, and grocer, who 
sell it to the consumer. To all these classes, constituting 
no small portion of the community, it is a producer, and 
to the State, too. for it is a source of no inconsiderable rev- 
enue. The licenses in the city of New York bring into 
the public treasury more than 50,000 dollars annually. 
In the United States there were made in the year 1848 
48,402,627 gallons of distilled spirits, and 28,267,780 gal- 
lons of beer, ale, and porter, and in the 7,000 places of 
sale in the cities of this State are received annually, in ex- 
change for strong drinks, if each place sells on an average 
ten dollars worth each day, 25,550,000 dollars. And what 



224 ALCOHOLIC GAINS ARE BUT EXPENSES. 

are the profits to manufacturers and venders Who can 
tell? 

But are there no drawbacks 1 Is it all gain % Is there 
no waste? Is the encouragement and continuance of this 
traffic the highest political economy ? 

Consider I. That the amounts received for spirituous 
and intoxicating liquors are, at the same moment, amounts 
expended. While one • party is a receiver, another is an 
expender. And what does the consumer receive for the 
vast sum or sums given ? Any thing essential to life and 
happiness ? Any thing, .as stock or real estate, which he 
may add to his possessions ? Any thing which enables its 
possessor to accumulate more, like a manufactory, or a 
ship, or a railway ? In each case the answer is no. It is 
a mere drink, which is dissipated in an hour, and whose 
loss, had it been poured upon the ground, rather than 
drank, would not have been felt, but as the non-possession 
of momentary excitement and enjoyment. Here, then, is 
naught but a negation ; yet a negation which causes the 
mind to pause in solemn reflection in view of waste. The 
man, the city, the State which may expend thousands and 
millions upon the articles in question as a beverage, is not 
a whit in advance of the man, the city, and State, which 
should advance nothing, but retain all their wealth for 
other purposes. 

Consider II. That while the receiver riots in gain, the 
community around him are subjected by his traffic to in- 
supportable burdens. What does the article manufactured 
and sold do to the consumer ? In cases without number, 
it renders him indifferent to his pursuits, idle, and vicious ; 



CONSIDER THE COST OF PAUPERISM. 225 

causing him to waste his substance, become involved in 
debt, and soon, with his family, be the tenant of the alms- 
house. Throughout the land, two thirds of the pauperism 
is the result of intemperance. In the State of New York 
the cost of pauperism in a single year was $817,441, of 
which $605,393 was for the support of the intemperate. 
So said official documents. In Massachusetts, of the poor 
tax of $441,675 in a year, $153,000 was for the support 
of drunken paupers. In Philadelphia the support of in- 
temperance is at an annual cost of $360,000. But 
were pauperism the only result, it could be borne. The 
liquor traffic leads to every vice, and causes the commission 
of the most atrocious crimes. Hence, commitments, pro- 
secutions, courts, juries, jails, penitentiaries, trials, execu- 
tions, without number, all costing the people sums they 
little dream of. Then again, there is the loss of property 
through the action of liquor upon the brain, the mind, the 
heart ; loss in shipwrecks ; loss in fires caused by drunken 
men and drunken women ; loss in foolish bargains, in neg- 
lected farms, and buildings; loss in the destruction of 
tools and impaired judgment in mechanical employments ; 
loss of the labor of the drunken ; loss in debts contracted 
and never paid ; loss in lives shortened by drunkenness, 
and a thousand casualties caused by rum. Now let these 
items be put together : 
Actual cost of wines, beer, and spirits, drank in a 

year, say $45,242,043 50 

Three-fourths cost of crime in the United States 

(estimated) 6,525,000 00 

Three-fourths cost of pauperism (do. ) 5,850,000 00 

$57,617,043 50 



226 COMPARE GAIN AND LOSS. 

Brought forward #57,617,043 50 

Loss of labor of 300,000 drunkards for 300 days, 
at 40 cents a day, besides the loss of ten years 

of the drunkard's life . 36,000,000 00 

Depreciation and waste of property, shipwrecks, 
fires, railroad and steam casualties caused by 

rum (estimated) 25,000,000 00 

Private charities to drunken paupers, their wives 

and children 1,300,000 00 

$119,917,043 50 
Deduct from that (it is believed a moderate esti- 
mate) the gain to the country 23 ,494,695 67 

Leaving a balance against, of $96,422,347 83 

What does the Temperance enterprise contemplate ? 

Inducing all men to abstain from all use of intoxicating 
drinks in their persons, families, and business, and thus 
save the waste, and incur none of this expense. 

What does the Maine Law contemplate % 

The saving of all this waste and expense by suppressing 
the traffic. But, may Legislatures interfere with commerce 
and suppress a traffic profitable to many 1 Yes ; when the 
public good demands it. They have interfered with the 
slave trade, with lottery dealing, with gambling. The hue 
and cry, By this craft we have our wealth, has little 
weight when the public say, " By this craft we have our 
burdens, a waste of the resources and energies of the State, 
an oppression of the people, and drafts upon the many for 
the benefit of the few." Yet it is not of right, but of Politi- 
cal Economy we speak. The State of Maine expended 
annually upon liquors two millions of dollars. It caused 



WHAT DOES NEAL DOW SAY? 22? 

a waste, says the Mayor of Portland, of two millions 
more. Let it be all or one-half saved, and expended upon 
her farms, and dwellings, and schools, and roads, and pub- 
lic improvements, and who will not say it would be po- 
litical economy % Let the Empire State close every dram- 
shop and tavern-bar, let her citizens banish distilleries and 
brew-houses, and expend their wasted millions upon ob- 
jects of private and public utility, and who will not say 
it would be political economy % Her alms-houses and pris- 
ons would be almost deserted. Two-thirds of her taxation 
would be wiped away. Every branch of industry would 
be increased. Every farm, every laborer, every mechanic 
would double in value. Every branch of business would 
receive a new impulse. The hatter, the shoemaker, the 
tailor, the carpenter, the baker, every industrial employ- 
ment would at once partake of the millions now worse 
than wasted at the dram-shop. All the physical resources 
of the State would soon be increased fifty-fold. Men roll- 
ing in wealth on the miseries of their fellow-men, would 
still, active and energetic, roll in wealth from useful em- 
ployments. Instead of distilleries, and breweries, and jails, 
and poor-houses, brutal strife, starvation, cursing, and mis- 
ery, there would rise manufactories and schools, churches 
and well-conducted farms — well fed, well clothed, happy 
families — " the mountains and the hills would break forth in- 
to singing, all the trees of the field would clap their hands." 
Reader ! Examine this subject, and listen not to the cry 
that the Maine Law will be destructive to our agricultural 
and commercial prosperity. Look at your taxes. Look 
at your starving poor, made poor by rum. Look at the 



228 king alcohol's portrait concluded. 

safeguards which would be thrown by such a law around 
every species of property. Look at the thrift and vigor 
it would impart to every species of business, and ask if 
its enaction would not be theggreatest Political Economy. 

The delineation of King Alcohol's portrait will be con- 
cluded by the following " Discourse delivered at West 
Fort Ann, April 7th, 1852, on the occasion of the death of 
Mr. Piatt Smithy by Rev. J. H. Patterson, of Glens Falls, 
N. Y.," prefaced by a statement of the alarming circum- 
stances of Mr. Smith's death, in a letter by the author of 
the Discourse, as above, with permission to republish it : 

" On Saturday, the 27th of March, 1852, Piatt Smith, of West 
Fort Ann, a laboring man in the employ of Mr. E. Woodruff, proprie- 
tor of the Mount Hope Iron- works, left his family in almost utter 
destitution, and, with a few dollars in his pocket, started for a store 
in the vicinity to procure supplies. On the two next days, he was 
seen intoxicated about the store and tavern contiguous. Nothing 
further is known until the following Sunday, when he was found 
in the woods dead, with a bottle of rum partially emptied by his 
side. He was described as an affectionate husband and father, and 
a good provider and citizen, when not under the influence of ardent 
spirits. He made repeated attempts to break the snare, but had 
appetite and temptation both against him, too much for his weak- 
ened powers to resist. An amiable woman and eight children, 
in the extreme of poverty, thus groan under the curse of licensed 
murder, by the people of the State of New York. During the ab- 
sence of Mr. Smith, Mr. Woodruff addressed the following letter 
to one of the rumsellers in the place, which speaks for itself: 

" ' Mount Hope Iron-worxs, April 2, 1852. 
" * Mr. J. Brown — 
" s Sir : We have to sustain great loss in consequence of spirituous 



A MA3T FOUND DEAD IN THE WOODS, 229 

liquors, said to have been brought from your neighborhood. Men 
who ought to have all they can earn to keep their families from 
hunger, get rum and other intoxicating drink, which cause them 
to neglect their work, fight with each other, and give shameful 
abuse to their families, I can prove to you, or any other candid 
person, that every gallon of rum you sell men in our employ, is 
at least five dollars damage to them and us. Piatt Smith left his 
family and work on Sunday last ; I have been informed he is drunk 
at your place. He has a wife and eight children, and very poor. 
We gave him the charge of one of our saw-mills, and he promised 
to attend to his business. It is two or three dollars loss to us every 
day he is absent. He is indebted to us. I do not believe he has 
five dollars' worth of any kind of provisions to eat in his house. If 
you knew half the loss, trouble, and distraction you cause by sell- 
ing this accursed liquor, you would stop it. There are others who 
are as bad and worse for us than you are ; I will engage to prove 
that our loss has not been less than five hundred dollars a year, 
for five years past, in consequence of ardent spirits being sold men 
in our employ. We must stop our business here, if you and others 
do not stop selling our men rum to injure us, 

" ' Yours respectfully, 

" < Edward Woodruff.' 

" It was the request of the friends to have the occasion improved 
in an attempt to awaken the neighborhood upon the subject of in- 
temperance. The friends of temperance afterward requested a 
copy for publication." 

SERMON. 

Text. Gen. iv. 9 — And the Lord said unto Cain, where 
is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my 
brother's keeper ? And He said, what hast thou done ? the 
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 

We have assembled to-day, my friends, under no ordi- 
nary circumstances, even for the house of mourning. 

20 



230 HOW SOLEMN IS THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. 

Death is a solemn subject, when pressed home upon us 
for our contemplation, yet the circumstances attending it, 
always deepen or diminish the sadness which that event 
occasions. 

It is in harmony with what we everywhere behold, that 
the aged should drop into their mother earth, and when 
we witness their departure, though we may miss their 
familiar faces, our feelings are not shocked by the impres- 
sion that violence has been offered to either moral or 
physical laws, and this goes far to mitigate the sorrow we 
should otherwise feel. 

So, too, when our friends sicken and die, though we may 
feel that this is unnatural, yet the instances are so frequent 
in which our friends die in this manner, that, filled with re- 
collections of the offices of kindness and sympathy which 
they received, and the consciousness that every effort pos- 
sible was put forth that they might live, we are comforted 
by the reflection that it was not in our power to prevent, 
nor our fault that it is thus. Neither when by a falling 
tree or rolling stone which drops upon the passing traveler 
•and in a moment hurries him into eternity, are we entirely 
overwhelmed, but it is when our friend falls by the hand of 
his fellow, or by our neglect, or by our fault — then it is the 
picture presents its most unwelcome and appalling aspect. 
And these are precisely the circumstances under which we 
are this day assembled. 

It is not the obsequies of age, nor of one who has fallen 
by what is termed a casualty or disease, but of one who 
has been struck down by the hand of an enemy — of one 
who has been victimized, and prematurely separated from a 



A WIFE MADE WIDOW, CHILDREN FATHERLESS. 231 

fond wife and children in the midst of his days, when they 
most needed his care and assistance for all that appertains 
to those relations which he as a husband and father sus- 
tained. 

He died not by the " visitation of God," nor by the as- 
sassin's club, yet he fell by the hand of an enemy that has 
for years been gathering its foils about him, against whose 
snares he unsuccessfully strove, and by whose power he 
has been finally slain. 

A foul wrong has been perpetrated. This man has been 
killed. It was wrong to deprive this afflicted woman of 
the companion of her youth, the father of her children. 

It may be true that he had not kept all those vows that 
were made when he stood with her at the altar of God's 
ordaining, but he was her husband still ; she had taken him 
for better or worse, and her heart clung to him with all a 
woman's fondness. There were still sunny spots that gave 
promise of better times yet in store for her trusting heart, 
and with all his faults, he was the center of her affection. 

It was wrong to thus crush the affections of a confiding 
heart; and though bitter tears of repentance may wash 
out the guilt, they can never atone for the wrongs she this 
day suffers. 

Look upon those fatherless children ! What have they 
done that they should be made, thus early, to suffer the 
orphan's woes? Through whose labor did they derive 
their daily bread, and in whom did their hearts trust as 
the. young only can trust? Tell me not their father, at 
times, was unworthy ? What and who made him at times 
thus unworthy 1 If it was right to thrust the torch of deso- 



232 HOW CAME THE MAN BY HIS DEATH ? 

lation into their dwelling, what is right for those who in- 
strumentally made him thus unworthy ? He might this 
moment have been as worthy as the most honored, if his 
brother man, less worthy, had not placed the snare for his 
feet, and seduced him to his destruction. 

A wrong has been perpetrated upon the community. 
By what right has the -life of a citizen been taken away, 
and his dependant family left unprotected and helpless 
upon the cold charities of a world which is overwhelmingly 
immersed in its own cares and tribulations ? 

You say you are a Christian community, and have an 
ear open to the widow's tears and the orphan's cry, and that 
they will find kind and sympathizing friends : may Heaven 
grant it may be even so. But if you are a Christian com 
munity, why then did you kill the father and husband ? 
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto God from the 
ground, and you must answer for your share of the respon- 
sibility in that day when He maketh inquisition for blood. 

Placed under the circumstances we are by the event 
that calls us together, it is proper for us seriously to in- 
quire, ON WHOM RESTS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS TRANS- 
ACTION % 

I am aware that I shall be answered by those who vainly 
seek to shake off responsibility, that rum did it ; but this 
no more answers the question than it would if Cain had 
said, when called to account for the murder of his brother, 
the club killed him ; or when we find the man with his 
throat cut, and the knife lying by his side, we should say 
the knife killed the man. They are all alike inanimate 
objects, and could be nothing more than the mere insru 



WHO WAS IT THAT DEALT THE BLOW OF DEATH ? 233 

ments by which the crime was perpetrated. Somebody 
wielded the instrument — somebody dealt the blow which 
resulted in this man's death, and we must hold them re- 
sponsible, as they will be held responsible at the bar of 
God. Who was it ] Shall we be told that he himself did 
the deed — was the last actor in the tragedy — and that on 
him rests the responsibility ? 

When you are startled from your slumbers at midnight 
by the thrilling cry of murder, every nervous chord of your 
system vibrates with intense excitement, and when you 
find your friend weltering in his blood, you not only ask 
who struck the fatal blow, but, also, who were parties 
to the transaction, who furnished the instrument, and for 
what purpose, who were aiding and abetting, and accord- 
ingly you hold them guilty in the degree to which they are 
involved, and measure out to them the penalty of the law. 

In the, like manner we must hold, as this man has been 
killed, all who aided and abetted, who were concerned in 
getting up this train of events, as guilty, as justly arraigned 
before the bar of public opinion and an enlightened con- 
science, and as responsible to that tribunal where every 
man will be judged by his works. 

Cain, when questioned, " Where is thy brother?" an- 
swered, " Am I my brother's keeper ?" The spirit of that 
answer was, what have I to do with my brother, let him take 
care of himself — I am not responsible. Thus has our race 
ever since been seeking to escape obligation, and though 
the voice of our brother's blood is continually ascending 
to God, we inquire with feigned innocency, am / my bro- 
ther's keeper 1 



234 WHO IS JUSTLY GUILTY OF THIS Man's BLOOD? 

But let us calmly look at this subject, and ascertain who, 
and to what extent, we are each guilty of this man's blood. 

And first : That the man himself was a participator in 
the transaction no one is disposed to deny, but his share of 
the guilt has already been adjusted before the tribunal of 
that Being who remembereth our frame, who knoweth we 
are but dust. Let this question rest until we meet him 
there. Yet, had he, under the influence of that cause which 
produced his own death, taken the life of another, we 
should have found extenuating circumstances. True, the 
law makes no allowances, proceeding upon the principle, 
that when a man is engaged in an immoral transaction, he 
is responsible for all the consequences, direct and remote ; 
yet we all know that an ever-gnawing thirst for intoxicating 
liquors produces insanity, and that he who is under their 
influence is no more responsible for his actions than the 
child, only as he is accountable for the act which placed him 
in that condition. A man becomes insane through licen- 
tiousness, and kills his neighbor — his insanity is a bar 
against the crime, and he is acquitted ; he becomes insane 
through alcoholic drinks, and the law exacts the penalty. 
The cases in their character are precisely similar, and it 
must be that the guilt in the one is the same as the other. 
In one, we commiserate and pardon, in the other we feel 
indignation and condemn. But God judgeth righteously. 

Secondly: Let us see what responsibility those haze 
who furnished the instrument by which the man was de- 
stroyed. They knew that the possession of it made him 
delirious; they knew that what they furnished him was 
destroying him ; they knew that it sent anguish into this 



THE CHARGE OF GUILT IS MADE. 235 

disconsolate family. They knew that they were sending a 
maddening poison through his veins when they put the bot- 
tle to his lips, that they were preparing him for a prema- 
ture grave, and his children for destitution and want. 
They knew they were swindling him of his hard earnings, 
and his family of that which belonged to them, and which was 
necessary for their comfort, for that which was worthless, yea, 
worse than worthless, because poisonous and destructive. 

They knew all this long since. They saw the impend- 
ing ruin, and famished the means for its completion. With 
open eyes, and naked facts staring the rum-seller in the face, 
under the gaze of an outraged community, and the eye of 
a God of justice and truth, he furnished his weaker brother 
with the instrument of his destruction, knowing that it was 
to be used for this very work. 

We therefore charge it upon the rum-seller, that upon 
his soul deeply rests the guilt of this tragedy. What can 
be offered in extenuation ? Do you say the rum-seller did 
not mean to kill him ? I do not charge him that he did. 
I do not suppose that Cain meant to kill his brother, at 
any rate, it is not so stated ; but I charge the rum-seller 
with being engaged in the business of death — a business 
that shortens men's days, that fills the land with crime 
and mourning — that lodges against him the widow's tears 
and orphan's curse, that has not one solitary bright or re- 
deeming good to be offered in extenuation. And while I 
do not charge you with furnishing the means of death with 
intent to kill, I ask you what did you let him have it for? 
What did you intend to have him do with it ? You knew 
it was a deadly poison — you knew that it disqualified him 



236 QUESTIONS FOR CRIMINALS TO ANSWER. 

for labor — you knew that it was breaking this woman's 
heart, that it was beggaring these children. You knew all 
this ; you knew it to be the legitimate fruit of your work 
everywhere, and have watched the process of desolation 
around you and elsewhere, until there is not a lingering 
doubt in your mind upon the subject. Now, why did you 
furnish this man with this destruction ? What did you 
intend to do for him 1 What ! add to his comfort by de- 
stroying his reason, by prostrating his strength? Were 
you seeking the comfort of this family, and the honor and 
prosperity of the community ? To make him wiser, better, 
healthier, or stronger % To exalt his manhood, and pre- 
pare him to pass away from this world fitted for the society 
of the lovely above % It is not right that you should be 
condemned unheard, therefore tell us what high and holy 
motive led you to help in this work of desolation. You 
did not mean to kill him ; you did not mean to push him 
over the precipice ; but you saw him tottering ; for what 
did you deprive him of what little power he had % For 
ivhat did you let that man have the instrument of his de- 
struction'? The voice of your brother's blood demands an 
answer to this question. An injured family ask for what 1 
An insulted and outraged community will demand to 
know why you lent your aid to bring about this event. 

But if I had not supplied the instrument some one else 
would, for he would have it, and I may as well do it as 
any one else. If it is any consolation to reflect that you 
became the instrument, and have incurred the guilt, shame, 
and disgrace, to save your neighbor from it, I will not dis- 
turb your comfort. You can not tell w T ho would have done 



A PLEA OF EXTENUATION. 237 

it, but you can tell who did do it ; and if there are hun- 
dreds who stand ready to do the same thing, it diminishes 
not your responsibility. 

But it is not the man who filled the cup to overflowing 
who is alone to blame. It has been a long number of 
years in which this work has been in process of comple- 
tion, and at every step the poor brother has been treated 
like the man that fell among thieves, robbed, beaten, and 
left by the wayside, without remuneration, without con- 
sideration or help, until exhausted nature has sunk under 
the load ; the work is complete, and those who deal in 
intoxicating liquors can gaze upon a finished specimen of 
their handiwork ; extenuate their fault as best they may 
before their fellows, and prepare themselves for that day 
of final retribution, when the victim and his destroyers 
shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. 

But I did not lawlessly furnish the instrument of death ; 
I was licensed to sell, and therefore had a right — to what ? 
to kill % No ! I had a license to sell, and am not respon- 
sible for the consequences. " Am I my brother's keeper f 
You knew he was dying by inches — you had a permit to 
sell him poison, death ! and you dealt it out. Will a 
license make that which is in and of itself wrong, whose 
fruits are all evil, and always evil, and only evil, right % 
Look over your neighborhood, and see what ruin your busi- 
ness is producing, what misery and wretchedness you are 
scattering broadcast around you ; sum up the good pro- 
duced, or rather the total absence of all good, the utter 
want of one redeeming quality, and then ask yourself, 
will a permit from any earthly tribunal be received in bar 



238 CONSCIENCE CALLED TO BE AS WITNESS. 

of guilt, when God shall bring you into judgment with 
Him ? But others are responsible : these have a great and 
fearful account to render, but not these alone ; there have 
been other influences operating. The example of others, 
who are treading the same course, has exerted a powerful 
influence for this man's ruin. How often have you invited 
him to take with you ;i the social glass,'* and by that invi- 
tation the fire that was consuming him has been increased. 
You were thoughtless, but see the force of example. Call 
up the past, and ask yourself the question, might not that 
man be alive if I had not, by my example or invita- 
tion, helped on the work ] Think not you have no respon- 
sibility ; God has made you responsible for your brother. 
You saw him struggling in the quicksand, you should have 
made a sacrifice for his salvation ; you saw him tottering 
over the precipice, and instead of stretching out your arm 
for his rescue, your example, that should have been bet- 
ter, led him onward; and you gaze upon a fallen com- 
panion, a monument, warning you of your impending fate. 
Seek not to shun this obligation, but calmly sit down and 
ask yourselves, how deeply am I involved in guilt 1 how 
much have I had to do in causing this mournful catastro- 
phe ? and learn a lesson of instruction that shall make you 
wise in escaping future condemnation, and the calamity 
which your companions have suffered. 

But not these alone are called upon to give an account 
of their brother, but the citizens generally have much for 
which to answer. Do not think me your enemy because 
I tell you the truth. 

I feel that it becomes the servant of God and truth to 



QUESTIONS FOR CONSCIENCE TO ANSWER. 239 

deal frankly on an occasion like the present. I am a 
stranger, seeking not yours, but you. Why have you 
tolerated such nuisances as grog-shops in your community 1 
You would hunt down the wolf which destroys your fold 
immediately ; you would band against the robber who was 
prowling around your dwelling ; you would unite against 
the man who should murder in cool blood an inoffensive 
citizen ; but you have allowed this work of death to roll 
on unshackled, and the fountains of it to belch forth its 
waters of desolation unstayed. You are shocked at the 
mention of the word murder, but I ask if the fraternity of 
rum-sellers had never furnished this man with intoxicating 
drinks, but had waited until the day he died, and then by 
steel had taken his life, would not this have been preferable 
both for himself and family, and also the community 1 
Yet, had you sat quietly by and seen them bent upon their 
murderous work, and had not interfered, would you ex- 
cuse yourself from guilt ] and are you now innocent ] 

I am told that a very short time since, this man struggled 
for redemption. Why did he not escape ? One word 
answers this question : he found a grog-shop, and it was a 
temptation too powerful to resist. Had it not been for 
this, he to day might have been in our midst. Who planted 
that tree of death ? who countenanced it ? who has toler- 
ated it ? Of such, God asks, Where is thy brother 1 Be 
assured this is a fearful question ; it must be met. 

You doubtless have felt that something ought to be done, 
but have you set your face irrespective of friend or foe, to 
shut down this gate of death ? Weigh well the relation 
you sustain to this event, and close not your eyes or your 



240 SEED-TIME OF INIQUITY, HARVEST OF SORROW. 

hearts to the fact, that the very condition of society implies 
that we are each under obligation to do all we can for the 
the other's welfare ; and that we are not doing our duty, 
while we silently allow our brother to suffer wrong, while 
we permit his life, his happiness, his good, to be wrested 
from him, or destroyed by those who have no respect for 
God's laws or man's sufferings, if they stand in competition 
with their unhallowed, sordid love of gain. 

This occurrence will long be remembered by the inhabit- 
ants of this community, and it is to be hoped it will be 
overruled for your general good. I have endeavored, at 
the earnest solicitation of these friends, to place before you 
the guilt of this transaction, and if I have in any degree 
been successful, may it be sanctioned by the ever blessed 
Spirit ! You have for a long time been sowing the seed ; 
you are now beginning to reap the harvest, and what a 
harvest ! Friends, you must stay this tide, or be over- 
whelmed ; you must dry up those streams, or be washed 
away. It is too destructive to be tolerated ; it is too re- 
proachful to be endured. 

To the citizens generally : 

Say to this wave of woe, here shalt thou be stayed. Rise 
up in the might of men who are interested in the welfare 
of humanity, and put a stop to this work of death. It has 
been endured too long. The shades of the departed urge 
you to this enterprise. The tears of the widow and orphan 
plead for you to engage in this work. The angel of mercy, 
in tears, is beseeching you to be true to the cause of purity, 
and every hour you delay is adding to the calamities you 
already suffer. 



A SOLEMN CHARGE TO JBUM-SELLEKS. 241 

Take care of your brother, of your sister, of your chil- 
dren, of yourself. Destroy that serpent that biteth with- 
out enchantment, and stingeth like an adder. Seek not to 
circumscribe it ; aim at its annihilation. Be hopeful, and 
trust in God. Victory, under united- and persevering effort, 
is certain, for the cause is in harmony with the attributes 
of Jehovah ; the interests of humanity. Faint not, falter 
not, until this abomination, that maketh desolate, shall 
have come to an end ; and the pure emblem of life shall 
be cherished as among the best of Heaven's blessings to 
an apostate race. 

To the fraternity of rum-sellers : 

You stand charged by this community with being guilty 
of this man's death. An impartial examination confirms 
that charge. You furnished him the instrument when you 
saw him using it to his ruin, and his blood cries to God 
against you. You looked in upon his peaceful Eden of 
domestic bliss, and sighed to scatter desolation, and have 
succeeded. Could you plead, in extenuation of your guilt, 
that your victim had injured you, or that in the heat of 
excited passion you dealt the blow, it might be some ex- 
tenuation, but you deliberately laid your snare, and for a 
long series of years have unrelentingly pursued your pur- 
pose, until you have accomplished your work. Wretched 
men ! Think on the sufferings you have caused, and re- 
member, as you have measured unto others, it shall be 
meted unto you again. Though justice may be tardy, she 
is certain in her rewards. You thought only of gold, and 
being greedy of gain, have troubled your own house. 
There are canker spots upon your souls, which will become 
21 



212 YOUR ONLY HOPE IS MERCY. 

corroding ulcers, unless removed. The time allotted you 
on earth is short, and let me earnestly beseech you to im- 
prove the remaining hours in preparation for the fate which 
awaits you. You can not atone for the past, or undo what 
you have acted. Your only hope is in the mercy of that 
Divine Redeemer, who died to save the chief of sinners. 
Bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Abandon that ac- 
cursed traffic, or it will destroy you. In the solitude of 
your reflections, think of your victims ; think of the woes 
you hava created, of the widowed ones, and helpless, home- 
less orphans you have made, and relent. Earnestly seek 
for pardon at a throne of grace, and may Christ have 

MERCY ON YOUR SOULS. 



CHAPTER XL 

[A Sermon written by the author, A. D. 1845, in the 70th year of his age, and 
delivered before a temperance society in Stillwater, Saratoga County, N. Y., 
and was subsequently published by request.] 

THE TEMPERANCE REFORMATION OF THIS NINETEENTH CEN- 
TURY, A FULFILLMENT OF DIVINE PROPHECY, 

When the enemy shall come iD like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up 
a standard against him. — Isaiah lix. 19. 

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he 
might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the 
woman ; and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the 
dragon cast out of his mouth. — Revelation, xii. 15, 16. 

There appears to be a striking coincidence between 
the aforesaid predictions. Although the prophets lived at 
different periods, more than TOO years from each other, 
yet, by the same spirit of inspiration, they both had the 
eyes of their mind directed to one and the same far dis- 
tant period of future time, when a most subtle stratagem 
of the adversary for the destruction of mankind, would 
providentially be defeated. 

From the above portions of Scripture in connection, it is 
proposed to illustrate and prove, that Satan's device to 
destroy the church of God by intoxicating liquors, and the 
providential Temperance Reformation, which is now bless- 
ing the world with sobriety, were subjects of divine pre- 
diction by the ancient prophets of God, who spake as they 
were moved bv the Holy Ghost, 



244 THE ENEMY DESCKIBED. 

To render the subject perspicuous, we shall First con- 
sider the import of the prediction, divested of its figurative 
language. 

Secondly, consider the chronology of the events pre- 
dicted. 

And, Thirdly, show that the events predicted have com- 
menced existence, and are now in progress fulfilling. 

I. Consider the import of the prediction, divested of its 
figurative language. 

In the sacred style of the text, the " enemy, serpent, 
and dragon," are mentioned. These appellations are all 
to be understood as alluding to one and the same object, 
which is the devil, the tempter of Eve in Eden; the 
father of lies ; the murderer of souls ; the adversary who 
walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 
devour. 

Such is the enemy, the serpent, the dragon ! And O 
what an enemy is Satan ! An enemy concealed, armed 
with poisoned arrows of death ; invisible in the light of 
day ; ever awake and vigilant in the darkness of the night, 
to decoy his victims by stratagems of infernal policy ; and 
never discouraged, though ever so often defeated. This 
enemy, with all his allied powers and instrumentali- 
ties, is ever malignantly engaged in forming devices to 
defeat the purposes of God ; to pervert the whole system 
of revealed truth ; to destroy the Church of Christ ; and 
to rob God of his glory. Hence, Satan may be considered 
as an enemy to God ; an enemy to holiness ; an enemy to 
the church ; an enemy to the souls of mankind ; and an 
enemy to every work of God for man's salvation. This 



A SYMBOLICAL WOMAK. 245 

is the enemy evidently alluded to in the prediction, who 
is represented as coming in like a flood ; and " the serpent 
that cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the 
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of 
the flood." 

By the "woman" alluded to in the text, we are to un- 
derstand the Church of God. A woman is a common 
scriptural emblem of the church. • Thus, " the bride, the 
Lamb's wife," is symbolical language, importing the church 
of Jesus Christ. The church, when spoken of figuratively 
as a woman, is the mother of all true believers, both un- 
der the Jewish and Christian dispensations. Paul speaks 
of the church under the appellation of " Jerusalem," styl- 
ing her " the mother of us all," i. e., of all true Christians. 
The Psalmist says of Zion (the church), " It shall be 
said this man was born in her." In this sense, the Mes- 
siah is represented by the prophet Isaiah as being born of 
the church. " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son 
is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 
and his name shall be called The Mighty God." The 
church derived her origin from heaven as the parent stock, 
and every true worshiper of God belongs to the spiritual 
seed of the church. 

Hence, by the woman spoken of in the 12th chapter of 
Revelation, where she is represented as being clothed with 
the sun, the moon under her feet, on her head a crown of 
twelve stars, who was driven by persecution into the wil- 
derness, and whose destruction was attempted by water as 
a flood from the mouth of the dragon ; this symbolical 
woman, we are to understand, is set forth in the scriptures 



218 DEVICE OF THE ENEMY TO DESTROY THE WOMAN. 

of truth as an emblem of the Church of God, comprising 
those who are heirs through faith in the atoning blood of 
Christ, to the kingdom of eternal glory. 

No object on earth is so much the abhorrence of Satan, 
as the Church of Jesus Christ, the purchase of His blood 
and dying love. Hence, for her destruction the enemy 
comes in like a flood. Every stratagem that infernal 
malignity can invent ; every agency that the spirit of 
darkness can employ ; every weapon of destruction, and 
method of desolation that falls within the grasp of the 
enemy's power, is wielded by him against the Church, 
with the desolating fury of an overwhelming flood. 

With implacable enmity, the old serpent, also, is repre- 
sented in the prediction under consideration, as " casting 
out of his mouth water as a flood, after the woman, that he 
might cause her to be carried away of the flood." And, 
let it be kept in mind, that in the figurative style of Scrip- 
ture, the dragon persecuted the woman ; that she fled into 
the wilderness for divine protection ; and that the enemy, 
with increased malignity, pursued the woman to her place 
of retreat, and there invidiously plotted her destruction, by 
casting after her water as a flood from his mouth. 

Before we reduce these emblems into plain language, 
let us for a few moments contemplate their figurative im- 
port, as the whole scene appeared to the holy apostle 
through the telescope of divine inspiration. In the inspired 
history of what he saw, he describes a woman in affliction. 
To escape the persecuting rage of an inveterate enemy, the 
poor woman had fled into a dreary wilderness, where she 
found a place prepared for her residence by the provident 



• A HORRID SCENE. 247 

hand of her covenant God, whose watchful eye had wit- 
nessed all her sources of grief, and provided for her 
retreat. Here she was prophetically seen and described 
by the inspired penman, in a scene of further trials. Alas ! 
the enemy pursues her into the wilderness with infuriated 
malignity. And to make a finish of her forever, he raises 
up his huge body in serpent form and terror, taller than 
the trees of the forest, and larger in bulk than the whole 
wilderness itself; then opens his tremendous mouth, and 
thus extending his frightful jaws as though he was about 
to disgorge a lake of liquid fire, he cast forth from the 
trunk of his body water as a flood, that he might cause 
the woman to be carried away of the flood, and be lost in 
perdition. 

Such is a symbolical sketch of the horrid scene, and the 
amount of the figurative import of the prediction com- 
prised in the text, so far as it relates to the enemy's as- 
sault upon the woman. We shall now endeavor to strip 
the prediction of its figurative form, and set the import in 
plain language. 

By the symbol of the woman in the wilderness, we are 
. to understand the church, seeking to find a place on earth 
where she may enjoy liberty of conscience in the spiritual 
worship of God, without the annoyance of persecuting 
agents of Satan. The wilderness to which the church emi- 
grated, may be understood to comprise portions of the 
habitable earth, both in city and country, lying principally 
within the boundaries of Europe and America, in regions 
to which the church has fled for refuge from the sword and 
tortures of merciless persecutors. 



248 IMPORT OF THE VISION. • 

But the wilderness was no hiding-place from the sagacious 
eye of Satan. This enemy pursued the church to destroy 
her in every place of retreat. Enraged by former dis- 
appointments, he rushed into the wilderness like a flood. 
He poured from his mouth water as a flood to carry away 
the church into perdition. These are bold figures of speech, 
which require special attention. 

When the enemy is represented as coming in like a 
flood, we are to understand the figure as alluding to the 
furious, impetuous, malignant, overwhelming, and almost 
irresistible poiver and/orce of Satan's attack, siege, and war- 
fare against the church for her destruction, like the fury 
of an overwhelming and resistless flood of water, the pro- 
gress of which nothing but the power of Omnipotence can 
resist or control. 

But, when it is said, " The serpent cast out of his mouth 
water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her 
to be carried away of the flood," the nature of the figure 
of a flood is changed from furious impetuosity to arti- 
fice. A flood proceeding from Satan's mouth, is to be 
understood as a stratagem, a device, a new invention, the 
destructive effects of which depended not so much on 
the fury of the overwhelming flood, as upon the deep-laid 
artifice and complicated stratagem, which was brooded in 
Satan's mind, and flowed like a flood from his mouth, to 
spread the knowledge of the device, and urge it forward 
into successful operation. Hence, by the flood which the 
serpent cast out of his mouth for the destruction of the 
Church of God, we may understand, not literally, a flood 
of cold water, but hot water, to scald the church to death. 



A DEVICE OF THE EXEMT. 249 

He invented a new stratagem of destruction. This was the 
art of distilling fermented liquors for the purpose of ex- 
tracting the pure, hot water of alcohol from all extraneous 
substances, that by it the work of destruction might be 
carried on with more fury. Alcohol, whether existing in 
fermented liquors, or pure distilled ardent spirits, is the 
hot water comprising the flood which the serpent cast out 
of his mouth after the woman (the church) to destroy he?. 
Alcohol, manufactured in conformity with the device of 
Satan, out of apples, grapes, barley, rye, potatoes, sugar- 
cane, and a variety of other fruits of the earth, first, by fer- 
mentation, and, secondly, by distillation, is most evidently 
the scalding hot water of deadly poison, which Satan vomits 
from his mouth for men, women, and children to drink till 
they love it, and then love to drink it to drunkenness and 
perdition. 

Satan well knew that the church, scattered over the wilder- 
ness of this world, was not to be destroyed by a flood of 
water deluging the earth, literally, like Noah's flood ; for 
God had forever provided against a repetition of such a 
disaster by a covenant, the token of which was often pre- 
sented by a bow in the clouds ; and no power of Satan 
could ever produce from his mouth a flood of water, liter- 
ally, for the destruction of mankind. Hence, the figure 
of water as a flood, cast from the mouth of the serpent, 
is to be understood to signify and foretell, that a device 
of Satan would be invented, which by a liquid, resembling 
water in appearance, would be multiplied to the similitude 
of a flood for its plentiful effusion upon mankind ; and that 
this newly -invented water would intoxicate, bewitch, un- 



£50 A DIVINE PKEDICTION. 

nerve, and poison the very fountains of life, and eventu- 
ally drown mankind in destruction and perdition. And 
we hesitate not to aver, that the figure of a flood of water 
from the serpent's mouth for the destruction of the w^oman, 
is to be understood as a Divine prediction of a capital de- 
vice of Satan for the destruction of the bodies and souls of 
men, and, especially, for the desolation of the Church of 
God by intemperance in the use of alcoholic liquors. 

In accordance with the foregoing obvious interpretation 
of Scripture, the sum of the whole matter is, that the 
nature, and common use of the water proceeding from Satan's 
mouth, will produce the mischief designed to be effected 
by the fiendish stratagem. The prediction is, that u The 
serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the 
woman to destroy her." The interpretation is, that this 
is a device of Satan, to make the likeness of water in ap- 
pearance, by the art of distillation, the effect of which is 
alcohol, and the use of which results in the greatest pro- 
portion of the evils of this life, and the everlasting ruin of 
both body and soul in the world to come. 

Let the following remark be well remembered : That, as 
the prediction discloses the fact, that the grand object of 
Satan's stratagem, in the use of alcoholic liquors, was the 
desolation of the Christian Church ; hence, it is within the 
bounds of Christendom that we are to look for the fulfill- 
ment of the prediction, by a Satanic attempt to drown the 
church in a flood of alcohol. And it is within the bounds 
of Christendom, also, that we are to look for the fulfillment 
of the prophecy which relates to the lifting up of a Divine 
standard against the enemy, and the earth's aid of the 



CHRONOLOGY OF THE PREDICTION. 251 

woman in absorbing the flood emitted from the mouth of 
the serpent, by which figurative representation we are to 
understand the predominant influence, instrumentality, and 
combination of the civil powers and the church, co-opera- 
tion of men of the world and of Christians, in planning and 
carrying out the principles of the great Temperance Refor- 
mation of this nineteenth century. 

II. We proceed to a consideration of the chronology of 
the prediction. 

The import of this proposition, is simply to ascertain 
the fact, that the period of time has actually arrived for 
the fulfillment of the foregoing prediction. The chronology 
of events in connection, shows that Satan's stratagem for 
the destruction of the church by intemperance, and the 
standard of the Lord lifted up against the enemy, with all 
the instrumentalities connected with that standard, were 
assigned to a period of time between the Protestant 
Reformation in Europe, and the overthrow of the com- 
bined powers of Antichrist, at the notable battle of the 
great day of the Lord. 

The Protestant Reformation may be considered as hav- 
ing commenced with the ministry of Martin Luther and 
John Calvin, early in the sixteenth century, almost 350 
years ago. And the overthrow of Antichrist, according to 
the most approved computation of time, will be before the 
commencement of the Millennium, when Popery shall 
have fulfilled her 1260 years of ecclesiastical domination ; 
when Mahometanism shall have fulfilled its 2300 days of 
years, computing from the period when the grand divisions 
of Alexander's empire were settled among his four gene- 



252 HISTORICAL ATTESTATIONS. 

rals, in the reigns of Seleucus Nicator, king of Syria, and 
Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt, about 300 before Christ, 
as was seen in the vision of the u he-goat," by the prophet 
Daniel (chap, viii.), to whom it was revealed by the 
Almighty, that out of one of those kingdoms a little horn 
would come forth, which was explained to the prophet to 
signify, "That, in the latter time," a mighty power of 
iniquity would arise, which would wax great — magnify 
himself — cast down the truth to the ground — destroy won- 
derfully — and practice, and prosper, until the end of the 
2300 years, when the sanctuary would be cleansed, and 
the mighty power of " the little horn" should be " broken 
without hands." From the above computation, the com- 
bined powers of Antichrist will be overthrown about A. D. 
2000, making the period between the Lutheran Reforma- 
tion to the overthrow of Antichrist, at the battle of the 
great day of the Lord, to consist of more than 450 years, 
upward of 300 years of which period are already past. 

That Satan's stratagem for the destruction of the church 
by a flood of alcohol, and the divinely appointed means 
for its defeat, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah and John 
the apostle, will fall within the compass of the period, be- 
tween the Protestant Reformation and the overthrow of 
Antichrist, will appear obvious, when we consider the 
fact, that all the events above-named are foretold in con- 
nection by both the prophets. Let this point be particu- 
larly noticed : that the wickedness of the dark ages of 
Popery ; the Protestant Reformation ; the subsequent 
persecution of the church, and her second flight into the 
wilderness (doubtless of, then, savage America) ; the 



OLD TESTAMENT ILLUSTRATIONS. 253 

new stratagem of Satan to destroy the church by intem- 
perance in the use of alcoholic liquors ; and the standard 
of the Lord lifted up against the enemy, comprising the 
Temperance Reformation, with all the appointed means 
and instrumentalities to defeat the enemy, and save the 
church from desolation, are all foretold in connection by 
both the prophets, as events which are to come to pass 
previous to the overthrow of Antichrist, at the Lord's 
great battle-day, preparatory to the Millennium. 

Let us now examine the proof of the feregoing affirma- 
tions. The first 15 verses of the 59th chapter of Isaiah, 
collectively, are taken up with a prophetical description of 
a state of apostacy, and consummate wickedness, in a far- 
distant period under the gospel dispensation, which, on 
comparison, is just such a state of wickedness as the his- 
tory of the Papal apostacy, and the dark ages of Popery, 
from the tenth to the fifteenth century, would famish, as 
a fulfillment of the prediction, which was doubtless de- 
signed to foreshow the enormities of that period. Then, 
from the 16th verse to the end of the chapter, the prophet 
foretells a state of confusion to the enemies of holiness, 
followed by a revival of true religion ; all which is such 
as the true history of the Protestant Eeformation describes 
as an accurate fulfillment, which is evidently the fact. In 
this important connection stands the prophecy of Satan's 
device, and appointed measure of its defeat during the re- 
vival. After describing the wickedness of the dark ages 
of apostacy, and foretelling the subsequent Reformation, 
it follows, verse 19 : " So shall they fear the name of the 
Lord, from the west [America], and His glory from the 

22 



254 NEW TESTAMENT ILLUSTRATIONS. 

rising of the sun [nations of Europe], When the enemy 
shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall 
lift up a standard against him." 

The apostle John takes the same view of the subject in 
the 12th chapter of the Revelation. In his prediction of 
the Papal apostacy, the persecuted woman (the church) 
fled into the wilderness for Divine protection. From the 
7th to the 9th verse, inclusive, entitled " War in Heaven," 
is a symbolic prediction of the disclosures of the abomina- 
tions of Popery, fulfilled by the preaching and writings of 
Luther, Calvin, and other Reformers, resulting in the 
Protestant Reformation. In this Reformation, Satan is 
figuratively represented as being cast out headlong unto the 
earth, and his angels with him : i. e., was defeated in his 
device to destroy the church by Papal errors and abomina- 
tions. This defeat of the adversary is represented in the 
prophecy as being hailed in the spirit-land of glory with 
joyful acclamations, while the inhabitants of the earth were 
forewarned of an evil time approaching, by the annuncia- 
tion of a woe, because Satan, full of wrath, was cast down 
among them, with but a limited time to plot and execute 
other devices of ruin. (See Rev. xii. 10-12.) 

This is the period when the enraged adversary is pro- 
pnetically represented as forming his new project to destroy 
the church and ruin the souls of men, by intemperance in 
the use of alcoholic liquors, and when the standard of the 
Lord shall be lifted up, and auxiliary instrumentalities ap- 
pointed to defeat the enemy. For, immediately after the 
prediction of the Protestant Reformation, new scenes of 
persecution — the noted stratagem of intemperance, and a 



HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 255 

new defeat of the adversary, are foretold in connection. 
Thus, it is written (Rev. xii. 13, and on) — " And when 
the dragon saw that he was cast out unto the earth, he 
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, 
that she might flee into the wilderness, into her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a 
time, from the face of the serpent ;" (i. e., that she might 
be fostered under Divine protection, until the end of the 
predicted period of 1260 years of Popery, computing from 
the commencement of its civil and ecclesiastical usurpation 
to its overthrow, in connection with other combined pow- 
ers of Antichrist) . This event commenced about the mid- 
dle of the eighth century, at the overthrow of Astulphus, 
king of Lombardy, by the Bishop of Rome, aided by 
Pepin, king of France, A. D. 756 ; at which period Pope 
Stephen II. became King Stephen, and the Papal power 
a kingdom, or beast of two horns, civil and ecclesiastical, 
and will probably conclude about A. D. 2000. 

But mark what follows the flight of the woman into the 
wilderness. The enemy pursued her. He came into the 
wilderness like a flood ; and with all the combined subtlety 
of the bottomless pit, he devised his new plot to destroy 
the church by intemperance. Thus stands the prediction 
in the text, verse 15th, "And the serpent cast out of his 
mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might 
cause her to be carried away of the flood." 

The Temperance Reformation is next foretold : " And 
the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her 
mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast 



256 PREDICTIONS IN PROGRESS FULFILLING. 

out of his mouth. 5 ' The Spirit of the Lord lifted up a 
standard against the enemy, to deliver the church from 
desolation, and employed earth's instrumentalities to carry 
out the merciful designs of the foretold defeat of the adver- 
sary, and the deliverance of millions of his plotted victims 
of destruction. 

We proceed, 

III. And lastly, to show that the events predicted, as 
above described, are now in progress of fulfilling. 

The history of the destructive progress of intemperance, 
during the three hundred years past, since the Protestant 
Eeformation in Europe, is a demonstration of the truth of 
this proposition, beyond all successful contradiction. Al- 
though the art of distillation was invented several hundred 
years before, yet it is but about three hundred years since 
the flood-gates of alcoholic liquors, distilled as well as fer- 
mented, were hoisted to drench the land of Christendom, 
especially with the deadly, poisonous flood of alcohol from 
Satan's mouth. Since that period, the flood of death has 
been rolling its billows, and dashing its waves over mil- 
lions of lost souls on Zion's land ; while the enemy who 
devised the project, has been triumphing in their destruc- 
tion. The purposes for which the device was formed have 
been carried into effect by innumerable and complicated 
instrumentalities. The manufacture and traffic of the 
water of death have employed millions of mankind, who 
have been engaged in promoting the kingdom of darkness 
by preparing and distributing potions of destruction, all 
of whom have been looking for their gain from their 
quarters, to furnish themselves with means to procure 



satan's device in full operation. 257 

their own inevitable and everlasting ruin ; while the poor 
pitiable, infatuated consumers of alcohol, in untold legions, 
have uniformly come to their destructive end without any 
gains, otherwise than to nurture an insatiable thirst for 
the water of certain death. 

That the predicted stratagem of the adversary has come 
to pass, that the enemy has come in like the fury of an 
overwhelming flood, and that he has deluged all Christen- 
dom, for three hundred years past, with the deleterious 
flood of alcoholic poison, could be proved to a demonstra- 
tion from millions upon millions of witnesses, could they 
be summoned from the court of death to testify to the 
means of their destruction. Rivers of widows' tears, mil- 
lions of children crying for bread, the Church of God dis- 
tracted with contention and loss of visible members, min- 
isters of the gospel deposed from the altar of God for 
drunkenness on water from Satan's mouth, manufactured 
and sold to them by their deacons, or other members of 
their respective churches, in connection with ten thousand 
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of con- 
comitant evils, and wretchedness, and woes, and sorrows, 
and crimes, and death, with all its horrors, to the con- 
science-smitten impenitent guilty, are all and singular 
witnesses of the fact, that the prediction of Satan's strat- 
agem to desolate the church, and destroy the souls of man- 
kind by intemperance, has come to pass. 

Fruits of the earth, during generations past, converted 
into alcoholic liquors by fermentation, and distilled into 
pure alcohol, cellars and domestic stores full of cider, beer, 
and fermented wines, ships of the ocean importing and ex- 



258 PERVERSION OF A DIVINE ORDINANCE. 

porting innumerable cargoes of ardent spirits for the man 
ufacture of drunkards, nations and individuals made rich 
by the manufacture and traffic of water from Satan's mouth, 
to poison millions of consumers to death, and all contribut- 
ing to pour a tide of emigration of deathless souls into the 
lake of deathless death, where the worm dieth not, and 
the fire is not quenched — are all, and singular, corrobora- 
tive witnesses of the fact, that the prediction of Satan's 
stratagem to desolate the church and ruin the souls of men 
by intemperance, has been fulfilling for centuries past, and 
is still fulfilling. Yes, the prediction has come to pass, 
and is still in progress fulfilling , to the same extent and 
degree that brandy, rum, gin, whisky, wines, beer, cider, 
or any other alcoholic liquors are used by any of mankind 
as a drink for pleasure, to gratify the appetite for strong 
drink ; not even excepting drugged, mixed, alcoholic wines 
at the communion of the Lord's table ; for light and truth 
have proved that the alcohol contained in such wines, like 
that of all other intoxicating liquors, belongs to the poison- 
ous flood, and is scripturally styled " water from the mouth 
of the serpent" 

During ages past, the fulfillment of the prediction of 
Satan's stratagem to destroy the church, has furnished a 
beverage for the sacramental table, destructive in its na- 
ture, and pernicious in its consequences. The pure fruit 
of the vine, the divinely-appointed emblem of the Saviour's 
blood, which was shed for the remission of sins and salva- 
tion of all who are interested in the atonement of the Di- 
vine Redeemer, has been perverted by the enemy's wiles 
of destruction into drugged, alcoholic, intoxicating wines, 



APOSTOLIC DISCRIMINATION. 259 

fit only to be denominated water from the mouth of the 
old serpent, and just such as revellers quaff to drunkenness 
and to destruction. Such an assimilation of the cup of the 
Lord, and the cup of devils, is reprobated in the Scripture 
as inconsistent with the true spirit of Christianity. " The 
cup of blessing is the communion of the blood of Christ." 
But, when perverted to idolatry, it becomes the cup of 
devils. Paul said to the Corinthians, " I would not that 
ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye can not drink 
the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils ; ye can not be 
partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." 
Hence, it must be concluded, that water from Satan's 
mouth, such as is contained in intoxicating wines — the 
poisonous, intoxicating water of alcohol — the water which 
produces drunkenness and death, instead of being a proper 
emblem of the innocent blood which was shed to make 
atonement for a world of sinners, has been introduced upon 
the table of the Lord, by the enemy of all good, as a part 
of his fiendish stratagem to destroy the church, and as an 
essential ingredient in the potion of that compound of de- 
struction, the participation of which would tend to subvert 
the foundation of the gospel ordinance of the holy Supper 
of our Lord — to pollute the Church of God with the cup 
of the adversary — to ruin immortal souls, and to promote 
the kingdom of darkness ! 

But the fulfillment of the prediction of Satan's destruct- 
ive stratagem can never half be told, nor understood, till 
the day of final judgment shall disclose the hidden mys- 
teries of iniquity, with which, in every age of its existence, 
it has been connected. Details which have fallen under 



260 A DIVINE REMEDY PEE- j 

our own observation, or come to our knowledge, are 
palling and heart-rending on the review. And no deliver- 
ance appears from the soul-destroying inundations of the 
enemy's poisoned billows of death, except that which is 
written in bold relief on the Standard which, in fulfillment 
of the predictions of God's word, has been lifted up by 
the power and merciful providence of the Eternal Spirit. 

Hence, we joyfully and triumphantly turn from the 
painful picture of the works of darkness, to the page : 7 
the book of Divine Providence, on which stand- 
the history of the Lord's Standard, which has been lii 
up against the enemy, and which, also, gave to the earth 
its power to help the woman, by absorbing the flood cast 
from the serpent's mouth to destroy her. 

The same prediction which foretold the evils, the woes, 
and curses devised by the enemy f:>r the destruction of 
mankind, foretold, also, an effectual cure for the evils. 
The Spirit's standard, p , and the earth's instru- 

mentalities, subordinate^ comprise the only effectual cure 
of the evils comprised in the enemy's stratagem of des~ 
tion ; and the recipe stands engraven on the standard 
of Temperance Reform, in letters of more importance 
to the world than all its gold, and is summed up in the 
following panacea : 

" TOUCH NOT ; TASTE NOT ; HANDLE NOT ;" 

BUT 5TEICTLY OBSEBYE 

TOTAL ABSTINENCE FROM ALL INTOXICATING LIQUORS. 
■ Touch not ; taste not : handle not f turn your 
Away from Satan"; - .- 1 not his lies. 

Abstain from water from his mouth and bowl — 
~ - . k destroy your - , 



THE TEMPERANCE KEFOKMATION. 261 

Th\3 Temperance Reformation, which commenced early 
in this nineteenth century, must be acknowledged by all 
who believe, and trust, and hope in the God of the Bible, 
to be efficiently a work of the Eternal Spirit. " When 
the enemy came in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord 
lifted up a standard against him." This standard, instru- 
mentally, was an organized temperance society for the 
suppression of intemperance. And when the earth helped 
the woman by swallowing up the flood which the serpent 
cast out of its mouth," it w&s the spirit of the Lord that 
gave efficiency to all the means and instrumentalities em- 
ployed in drying up the flood of intemperance, which was 
once sweeping over the land with an impetuosity threaten- 
ing destruction to all before it. The eternal God has, most 
evidently, made bare His almighty arm for the deliverance 
of His people from the flood of intemperance, and to Him, 
and Him alone, be all the Glory. 

The predictions of eternal truth decide, that God had 
foreordained, that " The earth should help the woman ;" and 
thus it came to pass in the commencement of the Tem- 
perance Reformation. The primary step, and predominant 
influence of a man of the w r orld — a man "of the earth, 
earthy" devoted to the interest, and aspiring to the hon- 
orable distinctions of the earth, with skillful and successful 
assiduity — were superintended by Divine Providence, to put 
the wheels of the great Temperance Reformation in motion, 
on the plan of revealed wisdom ; that all the glory should 
redound to God ; that men of every rank and office in life, 
whether within or without the pale of the church, should be 
abased in the dust : that the name of the Jehovah alone 



262 LEGAL SUASION ANTICIPATED. 

should be exalted ; and that no flesh should glory in His 
presence. 

Dr. Clark, the projector of the first temperance organi- 
zation, was not at that time a professed Christian. But 
the purest of temperance principles, and the profession and 
practical influence of genuine Christian faith, have for many 
years past characterized and been happily combined in his 
successful promotion of the Temperance Eeformation on 
principles of Bible religion. 

The first four epochs of the Temperance Reformation 
have been considered in the foregoing Historical Remi- 
niscences of this book, which have fallen principally under 
the influence of moral-suasory instrumentalities. But the 
fifth epoch, relating to legal suasion, is still pending, with 
increasing importance and political excitement. This fact 
was anticipated on the delivery of this address in 1845, as 
will now appear in its conclusion. 

Hence, it is submitted to the consideration of all who 
love the cause of temperance, whether the events of the 
enemy's flood of intemperance in our land and world, 
during hundreds of years past, and the standard of the 
Temperance Reformation of this century, which has been 
providentially lifted up, and is now in progress, blessing 
the world with sobriety, w r ere not both the subjects of Di- 
vine prediction ; foreseen and foretold by the prophets of 
God as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; and whether 
the history of those events, as they have actually come to 
pass, would not be the best comment that could be made 
on the Divine prediction and its fulfillment. 

In conclusion, it may be remarked, that the object now 



MR. DELAYAN ON WINE. 263 

is to array, at the ballot-box, the voice of the sovereign 
people against intemperance, as a device of the adversary 
which has destroyed its millions. If the virtue, and wis- 
dom, and union, and consequent majesty, and power of 
the laws of the land can be arrayed against the common 
enemy, the Temperance Reformation will triumph, till 
drunkenness, with all its appendages, will fall under the 
strong arm of the law, as crimes which are subversive of 
the peace, liberty, and lives of mankind — the penalties of 
which will be found as important to secure human safety, 
happiness, and prosperity, as the penalties are, which are 
attached to forgery, perjury, or any other specific portion 
of the criminal code. 

In a word, if I could raise my voice to be heard round 
this globe of earth, I would say to all ranks and conditions 
of mankind, Fellow-travellers to the grave and to eternity, 
abstain from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage ; sign 
the pledge of total abstinence ; come directly up to the 
standard of the Lord's Spirit ; enlist in the ranks of His 
instrumentalities ; give to the world your example and in- 
fluence for the total abolition of intemperance — and pre- 
pare to meet thy God at death and at judgment. 

The following extracts are from " The Temperance Ma- 
gazine," Vol. II., No. 2, February, 1852, on " The Wine 
Question," by Edward C. Delavan, Esq., Ballston Centre, 
New York : 

It does not become the friends of total abstinence to 
attempt to sustain any position which is opposed either to 
the word of God, or of science. These teachings, rightly 



264 THE WINE QUESTION. 

understood, will always harmonize. No religious or moral 
reforms can be permanent, based on any other foundations 
than truth. . Where opinions have been advanced, or po- 
sitions taken in error, it is the part of wisdom, as it is of 
m agn animi ty , ' to relin quish them . 

The wine question has called forth much discussion, not 
only in this country, but also in England, The Bible is 
quoted freely, for and against the use of wine as a bever- 
age. And well it may be, for in the Bible the use of wine 
is alike commended and condemned. There appears to a 
cursory reader to be great contradiction in relation to this 
subject; but it may well be questioned whether the Bible 
can not be relieved from the charge of inconsistency, and 
the Christian world from the Scriptural objection against 
total abstinence from all that can intoxicate, by classing 
wine as we do other things, according to its character, as 
good or bad, unhealthful or healthful ; especially since ex- 
perience has decided this to be the fact. The Bible con- 
tains some texts expressive of an unqualified approval of 
w r ine as a beverage ; and some texts expressive of a no 
less unqualified disapprobation of its use, in any quantity, 
however small. We are commanded not even " to look 
upon it" in a certain state ; while in another state we are 
incited to " drink of it abundantly." The great question is. 
Does the Bible refer to the same article in terms of appro- 
bation and in terms of condemnation 1 Does it inhibit and 
sanction the use of the same article, and in the same state, 
and that too without explanation or restriction ? 

It is now an established and admitted fact, that the fruit 
of the vine is wine, whether in its intoxicating state or 



NEW WINE IS PURE BLOOD OF THE GRAPE. 265 

not ; that the term wine, according to the ancient usage, 
comprehended the fruit of the vine in all states, whether 
new or old, pure or mixed, intoxicating or unintoxicating. 
The use of the intoxicating wine has been the fruitful cause 
of drunkenness in Europe and in Asia from the earliest 
times ; whereas the use of unintoxicating wine in modera- 
tion never injured any one, in any country. The pure 
blood of the grape — the new wine from the press — is known 
to be as healthful as delicious, as nutritive as refreshing. I 
have drank it in Italy in this state, and found this to be the 
case. This new wine is the very wine, and the only wine 
the Bible commends in terms as a beverage ; and the wine 
it condemns is known to be intoxicating, and in many 
instances is declared in terms to be so : " Wine the 
mocker ;" " wine that biteth like a serpent and stingeth 
like an adder." 

In the course of the discussion during past years on this 
very important question, it has been asserted by some that 
even the good wine of the Bible, or what is called the un- 
intoxicating — even the pure blood of the grape as it gushes 
from the wine-press — contains a trace of alcohol. This has 
been denied by others who fully recognize the value and 
importance of the distinction between good unintoxicating 
wine, and bad intoxicating, wine, and believe the Bible 
fully sustains this distinction, but who still insist that the 
moment wine becomes in the least degree alcoholic, it 
should be classed with intoxicating wine — "wine the 
mocker" 

Another class of writers admU that all wine manufac- 
tured under ordinary circumstances, even the wine of the 
23 



266 UOTNTOXICATING WINE. 

press or the vat, contains a minute quantity of alcohol, but 
so minute as not to be appreciable by the senses, but that 
this chemical fact does not warrant the classing of wine in 
this condition with intoxicating wine, any more than the 
fact that cider as it runs from the press, containing a slight 
trace of alcohol, warrants the classing of it with intoxicat- 
ing liquors ; or the fact that the juice of the sugar-cane, 
containing a trace of alcohol, should justify the classing of 
that delicious and healthful beverage among the poisons. 
If there be good and bad bread and meat, and fruit and 
water, it is certainly according to analogy that there should 
be good and bad wine also. And it is consonant to reason 
that the good wine should be used, and that bad wine 
should be avoided. The name of a thing does not at all 
determine its quality, or the rightfulness of its use. We 
should therefore, I think, in all our advocacy of temperance, 
use such terms as will not conflict with science and the 
Bible ; and in place of contending against alcohol as such, 
to array ourselves against all intoxicating drinks. 

It can not be denied that the good wine of the Bible, 
the wine authorized and commended, had a slight trace of 
alcohol in it. So has bread ; so has molasses ; so has the 
juice of the sugar-cane ; so have preserves ; all of which 
articles are at once grateful, healthful, and nutritious. All 
these articles must be abjured if pure, healthful, unintoxi- 
cating wine is to be abjured, and for the same reason. 

Even the good wine of the Bible I would not use as a 
beverage now, for the reason that others, influenced by my 
example, might feel at liberty to drink that which was 
bad ; and thus I might cause my brother to offend. The 



BLOOD OF THE GRAPE U^FEIttlENTED. 267 

use of good wine may be avoided on the ground of expe- 
diency, that of bad on the ground of duty. The one, if 
used, is to be used in moderation ; the other is never to be 
used as a beverage. 

For myself, I feel no further interest in the question than 
to secure its being understood by temperance men and the 
community at large. In the millions of documents I have 
circulated on the wine question, I have taken great pains to 
place the exact truth with regard to the laws which govern 
fermentation, before the public mind. Having a valued 
friend in Germany, under the tuition of Professor Liebig, I 
requested him to submit this question to that chemist, as 
well as to other chemists : whethe* alcohol was formed in 
wine as soon as it became exposed to the action of the 
atmosphere'? To that question I received the following 
answer : 

" You are entirely correct. Grape juice, as soon as it 
comes in contact with the air, absorbs oxygen ; this oxygen 
forms with carbon a constituent of the ferment. This fer- 
ment acts upon the sugar, separating it into carbonic acid 
and alcohol. This process commences immediately" 

Rev. John Marsh, Secretary of the American Temperance 
Union, in his controversy with Dr. Nott, admits the same 
belief; for he says, " If Dr. Nott is correct in his position 
that all wine contains alcohol, a point we are not disposed 
to dispute, we rather believe it to be so," etc. 
. Professors Silliman, Renwick, and indeed every chemist 
consulted, give the same response as Liebig. This being 
the fact, as I have said before, let us all use the same terms 
in advocating the great cause of temperance. Let us wage 



268 ADULTERATIONS OF LIQUOKS. 

everlasting war against intoxicating liquors to be used as a 
beverage, and use no other term than intoxicating drinks. 
By adhering to the use of the term intoxicating in place 
of alcoholic in all our discussions, we avoid, in my opinion, 
all conflict with either science or the Bible. More than 
this, by warring against intoxicating drink, we war against 
wine that intoxicates, and thus free ourselves from the re- 
proach of destroying the bodies and souls of men by sanc- 
tioning, under the name of wine, the most deadly poisons. 
Poisons which are blasting the character, and destroying 
the lives of tens of thousands of the noblest and wisest of 
our old, as well as our young men, throughout the nation, 
who are deceived by a name. 

The following extracts are taken from a pamphlet, en- 
titled, " Adulterations of Liquors:" by E. C. Delavan, 
Esq., of Ballston Centre, New York. 

During the many years my attention has been directed 
to the subject of Temperance, a great variety of facts have 
come to my knowledge from authentic sources, in relation 
to the adulterations of strong drink. 

It is my opinion, could the real truth be known, the 
whole community, with the exception of those whose ap- 
petite has already become depraved by indulgence, would 
abandon forever the use of intoxicating drinks. 

My attention was first called to wine and spirit adultera- 
tions in 1833. An acquaintance of my own who was 
engaged in the manufacture of spurious wines, and who, in 
cne year, sold thirty thousand casks, stated to me in sub- 
stance : That few persons who drink wine have any con- 



ATROCIOUS FRAUDS UNRIDDLED. 269 

ception what they drink. For every gallon of wine im- 
ported from abroad, ten or more are manufactured at home. 
Frauds committed, in the adulteration of wine and spirit in 
the City of New York alone, amount, it is supposed, to at 
least three millions of dollars annually. A cargo of wine 
arrives in New York, is at once purchased up, and even if 
factitious, in twenty-four hours its whole character is 
changed. To effect this it is emptied into large vats, and 
then mixed with whiskey, cider, sour beer, and drugs. 
Let the country merchant require ever so great a variety 
of wines, they can all be supplied from the same source, 
and though the real cost is only from fifteen to twenty 
cents per gallon, the same is sold from fifty cents to five 
dollars. The greater part of the wines sold in this coun- 
try cost the manufacturer only from fifteen to twenty cents 
per gallon. 

Prof. C. A. Lee, of New York, in 1836, made the fol- 
lowing statement : 

" A grocer, after he had abandoned the nefarious traffic n 
adulterations, assured me that he had often purchased 
whisky one day of a country merchant, and before he left 
town, sold the same whisky back to him, turned into wine, 
at a profit of from 4 to 500 per cent." 

" I have heard," said Dr. Lee, " dealers relate instances 
in which extensive stores have been filled with these arti- 
ficial wines — and when merchants from the country have 
asked for genuine wines, these have been sold them as 
such, assuring them there could be no doubt of their 
purity." 

M. P. Orfilla, on poisons, page 198, says : " Wines are 



270 WRETCHED COMPOUNDS SOLD FOU OLD POET. 

adulterated by various substances ; the object is to mask 
defects, to give color or strength;" Page 199: -Wines 
adulterated by lead, sugar of lead, and still more fre- 
quently litharge, are mixed with acid or sharp-tasted 
wines, and these substances do, in fact, give them a sweet 
taste. Of all the frauds this is the most dangerous.*' The 
effect of sugar of lead is described, pages 74 and 75. 

Accum on Culinary Poisons — Phil., page 74, says : ;; It 
is sufficiently evident that few of the commodities which 
are the object of commerce are adulterated to a greater 
extent than wine. A mixture of spoiled foreign and home- 
made wines are converted into the wretched compound 
frequently sold under the name of genuine Old Port!' 1 

Dr. Warren — Medical Trans., vol. ii. p. 80, states an 
instance of twenty persons having become severely ill in 
Paris, after drinking white wine that had been adulterated 
with lead. One of them died and one became paralytic. 

It is now a well-ascertained fact, that no wine can cross 
the Atlantic without spoiling, in its natural state ; it must 
be enforced by drugs or ardent spirit. 

A friend of mine ordered some wine from Madeira, with 
the positive injunction that no ardent spirit should be put 
in the wine. The wine came, but as strong as ever — the 
question was asked of the shipper — did you comply with 
my order ? The answer came — :; We complied with the 
letter but not with the spirit of your order : we put no 
ardent spirit in the wine, but we put the wine into the 
ardent spirit; had we not made the addition, the wine 
would have spoiled before reaching you." 

A friend purchased, in Xew York, a bottle of what was 



EECJPE FOR MAKING PORT WINE. 271 

called genuine champaigne of the importers, and found it 
to contain one quarter of an ounce of sugar of lead. 

The Rev. Dr. Baird informed me that he had been 
assured, while visiting and residing with the proprietors of 
vineyards, in Trance, that little or no wine was drank in 
that country or shipped from it in a pure state at the 
vineyards, but in their hands its character was entirely 
changed, either by being enforced by distilled spirits or 
drugged. 

Horatio Greenough, our distinguished countryman and 
eminent sculptor, wrote me from Florence, Italy : " Though 
the pure juice of the grape can be furnished for one cent a 
bottle, you who have studied the matter, know very well 
that the retailers choose to gain a fraction of profit by the 
admission of water or drugs." 

But how could this be accomplished ? " The Wine 
Guide," published for the convenience of wine brewers 
and wine doctors ', tells us : 

" Recipe for making Port Wine, — Take of good cider 
4 gills ; of red beets 2 quarts ; brandy 2 quarts ; logwood 
4 ounces ; rhatany root bruised, half a pound. First in- 
fuse the logwood and rhatany root in brandy and a gallon 
of cider for one week, then strain off the liquor and mix 
the other ingredients, keep it in a cask for •> month, when 
it will be fit to bottle." 

An important instance of port wine making was 
brought to light in Birmingham, England, on the 24th 
August, 1842, where one Adolphus Blumenthall, wine and 
spirit merchant, was summoned before the magistrate, for 
pretending to sell to W. H. Bond a p pe of port wine, and 



LMi : ::"■": :n , fraud. 

obtained from the same W. H. Bond £57 sterling (about 
$250), when in truth and in fact he did not sell to W. H. 
B. any port wine at all, but a certain deleterious mixture 
of cider and other ingredients, not consisting of port wine, 
with intent to cheat and defraud the said W. H. B. 
money. In the invoice sent with the wine it was stated 
u A pipe of fine pert wine" And in a note accompanying 
it, that it was of u good quality* and I hope will insure your 
further orders." 

Hie said Adolphus Blumenthall was convicted of this 
case, and numerous other instances of the like fraud. 

A friend calling one day upon an innkeeper, in Croyden, 
England, was received by the host his sleeves tucked 

up, and both his arms of sanguineous hue. Upon inquiring 
the cause of such appearance, he answered privately, that 
there was to be a great dinner of all the volunteer corps 
of the neighborhood the following day, and that lie 
then brewing the port wine. 

There is no kind of wine but what can be imitate 1 
the wine-brewer. 

George IV. had a wine he greatly prized, and so did his 
servants, and they drank it freely. On a particular occa- 
sion, he ordered this wine to be supplied to his guests, but 
there was but one bottle left ; one of his household under- 
stood the practices of the wine fabricators ; the remaining 
bottle was sent to the wine-brewer, and he the next day 
furnished his majesty's table with a full stock of the same, 
as to flavor, etc, The deception was not disco 
his majesty. 

The laws of the State are severe on frauds committed 



STATUTE OF N. Y. STATE AGAINST FRAUDS. 273 

by adulterating strong drink ;* every dealer should refer 
to them. 

Dr. Lewis Beck devoted much time to the examination 
of my stock of wine, about the time I abandoned its use. 

My port, which was as imported, was found to contain 
42 per cent, of the strength of brandy, and my Madeira 
48 per cent. 

The above tests were only to ascertain the proportion 
of spirit, not to detect drugs. The two samples examined 
by Dr. Beck were imported wine, or said to be. The port 
cost $4 the gallon, the Madeira about the same. 

When Dr. Hewitt visited France, he was surprised to 
see so much drunkenness on what he supposed the pure 
fruit of the vine. Perhaps he was not aware of the extent 
of adulterations in wine countries, and the adding of poisons 
even more destructive to health and life than alcohol. 

"The common people," he remarks, "in France are 
burnt up with wine, and look exactly like the cider and 
brandy drinkers of Connecticut." 



* Art. 11, Title 2, Chap. XVII,, Part I Revised Statutes of New York. 

Seo. 193. Every person who shall adulterate any distilled spirits, or spirits in a 
state of distillation, with any poisonous or unhealthy substances, and every person 
who shall sell such spirits, knowing them to be so adulterated, shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of 
the court by which he shall be tried ; the fine in no case to exceed one thousand 
dollars, nor the imprisonment the term of four years. 

Sec. 194. Every person who shall fraudulently put any thing whatever into any 
cask of distilled spirits branded by an inspector, for the purpose of attesting the 
real or apparent proof, or the bead or nature of the spirits contained therein, and 
every person who, without first obliterating the marks of the inspector, shall put 
in any such cask, after the same shall have been emptied, in whole or in part, of 
the spirits contained therein when inspected, any other spirits or spirituous liquors 
whatever, and every person who shall sell, or in any manner dispose of any such 
cask, when emptied, without effacing the marks of the inspector, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or imprisonment. 



274 A WINE DEALER ALARMED. 

Louis Phillipe assured me " that the drunkenness of 
France was on wine." 

His son, the late Duke of Orleans, stated to me that it 
would be a great benefit to France, could the grape be 
used only as food, for in the wine districts were to be 
found the greatest amount of destitution and insubordina- 
tion. 

Lord Action, Supreme Judge of Rome (now Cardinal 
Action), assured me that nearly all the crime of the city 
could be traced to the excessive use of wine. 

I knew a large dealer, who, having obtained the recipes 
for making all kinds of fraudulent liquors, brandy, gin, 
rum, and wine, went to work on a large scale, and was 
making a fortune rapidly. He was so elated at his suc- 
cess, that he mentioned it to his family physician, and 
showed him his various, recipes. The physician, after ex- 
amining them, informed him that some of the ingredients 
were deadly poisons, and to sell such mixtures to the pub- 
lic was as bad as murder. The dealer was alarmed, for 
he had accumulated a large stock ; he came to the conclu- 
sion he would give a notorious drunkard of the place a 
gallon or two of it, and if it did not kill him he would 
continue to sell ! The poor drunkard had the precious 
present ; he drank it ; it was not a swift poison ; he did not 
die immediately ; the dealer continued his wicked traffic, 
died rich, and has gone to his account. 

While traveling in a public conveyance with a gentle- 
man whose aid I was anxious to secure for the temperance 
cause, the adulteration of liquors was discussed. I stated 
to him, that in order to be sure he was drinking pure 



ME. DELAVAN AND DR. NOTT COINCIDE. 275 

liquor, and not a mixture of poisons, he would require a 
chemist with his laboratory constantly in attendance. 
After giving him a great variety of facts on the subject, he 
replied: "lean not credit what you say; you have been 
deceived; such things could not exist, without exposure, so 
long. If true, or even half true, those liquor forgers de- 
serve the State prison ten times more than he who writes 
another man's name, without his knowledge, on the back 
of a note, for the purpose of raising money thereon. Here 

is Mr. , sitting beside us ; he is an extensive importer 

of wine ; let us appeal to him. i Is what Mr. Delavan re- 
lates true V " "Yes," replied our fellow-passenger, "all 
that he says is true." 

And here let me remark, that while the temperance 
press, as well as the religious and political, have teemed 
with these charges against the liquor trade, to my knowl- 
edge there has not yet appeared the first denial. 

Says President Nott, in his admirable lectures, " I had 
a friend who had been, himself a wine dealer, and having 
read the startling statements, some time since made pub- 
lic, in relation to the brewing of wines and the adultera- 
tions of other liquors generally, I inquired of that friend as 
to the verity of these statements. His reply was — 

" ' God forgive what has passed in my own cellar, 

! but the statements are true, all true, i assure you.' " 

Page 174, bound vol. 

" That friend," says Dr. Nott, " has since gone to his 
last account, as have doubtless many of those whose days 
on earth were shortened by poisons he dispensed. But I 
still remember, and shall long remember, both the terms 



276 MANUFACTURE OF CIDER-WINE* 

and the tone of that laconic answer, c the statements made 

ARE TRUE, ALL TRUE, I ASSURE YOU.' " 

" But not on the evidence of that friend does the evi- 
dence of these frauds depend. Another friend informed 
me, that the executor of a wine-dealer in a city which he 
named, assured him, that in the inventory of articles for 
the manufacture of wine, found in the cellar of that dealer, 
and which amounted to many thousands of dollars, there 
was not one dollar for the juice of the grape." 

" And still another friend informed me, that in examin- 
ing, as an assignee, the papers of a house in that city, which 
had dealt in wine, and which had stopped payment, he 
found evidence of the purchase, during the preceding year, 
of hundreds of casks of cider, but none of wine ; and yet 
it was not cider, but wine, which had been supposed to 
have been dealt out by that house to its confiding custom- 
ers." — Dr. Noit, pp. 174, 175, bound vol. 

A letter from Madeira, from an officer in the army, 
states, that " but 30,000 barrels of wine were produced in 
the island, and 50,000, claimed to be from thence, drank 
in America alone." — Ibid. 

a In confirmation of this statement, a friend of mine, 
James C. Duane, Esq., of Schenectady, informed me, that 
having been induced to purchase a cask of port wine, by 
the fact that it had just been received direct from Oporto 
by a house in New York, in the honor and integrity of 
which entire confidence could be placed, he drew off, 
and bottled, and secured the precious contents, to be 
reserved for the especial use of friends ; and that having 
done so, and having thereafter occasion to cause the cask to 



MB. DELAVAn's LAST CASK OF WINE. 277 

be sawed in two, he found to his astonishment that its lees 
consisted of a large quantity of the shavings of log-wood, a 
residuum of alum, and other ingredients, the name and 
nature of which were to him unknown." — Dr. Notfs Lec- 
tures, p. 178. 

The last cask of wine I purchased, and which was tested 
by some of the best judges in the country, and pronounced 
to be good wine, I afterward discovered to have been made 
in the loft of the wine-dealer, and did not contain a drop 
of the fruit of the vine, but doctored whisky. 

Within the past year an individual assured me, that 
while acting as assistant to a wine-brewing establish- 
ment, he had frequently seen $100 made on a single cask 
of liquor sold as wine, which did not contain a drop of the 
juice of the grape, but was made from whisky and drugs. 

A dealer in strong drink, once residing in Albany, as- 
sured me, that when he purchased imported liquors in New 
York, on shipboard, he felt no security in receiving the 
imported article unless he watched it from the ship to the 
Albany vessel himself. A large number of pipes of im- 
ported brandy were purchased of the importer while on 
the dock, removed the following night, the casks emptied, 
and factitious brandy substituted, the casks replaced in 
their old position before morning, and the whole sold at 
auction the next day as pure imported brandy. 

A dealer once said to me, if you will purchase my stock 
of wine at cost (which he valued at 85,000), 1 will give up 
the trade ; I replied, I will purchase every gallon you will 
warrant pure. After some hesitation, he answered, (i I 
have not one ; it is all enforced, else it would not keep." 

24 



278 DANGER OF USING DRUGGED WINE. 

Medical men, advanced in life, have assured me that the 
effect of using intoxicating liquors now, is much more fatal 
to health and life than thirty years since ; then liquors were 
comparatively pure, the alcohol in them was usually the 
only ingredient that the constitution had to contend with, 
and then a habitual drunkard, if he lived so long, fre- 
quently did not become a known drunkard under twenty 
years, but now it frequently occurred that the same amount 
of habitual drinking produced disease and intemperance in 
three years; this change, these medical gentlemen attrib- 
ute to the presence of other poisons than the poison of al- 
cohol in the intoxicating liquors used by the people in 
such quantities. 

I could fill a volume with facts going to show that as to 
wine, it is next to impossible to find any in this country 
pure, I mean pure fermented unenforced wine, and I be- 
lieve the same in regard to distilled spirits. Drugs are 
used in the manufacture of most, if not all kinds, for the 
reason that with drugs the commonest whisky can be 
turned into rum, brandy, or gin. I have been assured, 
that arsenic is used in whisky to restore the bead, after 
having been diluted with water. So with beer, when pois- 
onous drugs are cheaper than malt, to increase the intoxi- 
cating power, and money is to be made by it. This is 
often done, of which I have proof as positive as that the 
most filthy water has been, and still is used in malting and 
brewing. 

A large druggist in New York made no secret of the 
fact, that he sold tons of poisonous drugs to brewers, 
and opened his ledger to a friend of mine, and gave 



COCKROACH JUICE IN WESTE ! 279 

him the brewers' names who purchased the min large quan- 
tities. 

COCKROACHES. 

The Eev. T. P. Hunt, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, 
writes me : 

" While I lectured in Philadelphia, I became acquainted 
with a man who was extensively engaged in making wines, 
brandy, etc. Through my influence he abandoned the hor- 
rid traffic ; he informed me, that in order to produce the 
' nutty flavor J for which Madeira was so much admired, 
he put a bag of cockroaches into the liquor, and let it re- 
main there until the cockroaches were dissolved. I have 
been informed by several that this is no uncommon practice. 
If any wine drinker doubts it, he can soon settle the ques- 
tion by an experiment. Cockroaches are plenty, and many 
much more nauseous and poisonous substances are known 
to be employed by the makers and venders of intoxicating 
drinks. I would give you the name of the person who 
gave the receipt for using cockroaches, but he gave it in 
confidence, and is now occupying a much more moral and 
useful station than that of poisoning his customers." 

But I forbear ; if a single fellow-mortal, now on the high- 
way to ruin through the use of the vile compounds above 
described, can be induced to abandon them, and place him- 
self out of the reach of danger, I shall be richly compen- 
sated for sending you this article ; and I can not but hope 
that this will be the case with many ; now that it is known 
that these liquors contain an element of death ; now that 
statistics have shown that their use shortens human life on 



280 ADULTERATING WINE IS BAD BUSINESS. 

an average eleven years ! now that it is proved that the 
wine in use here is not the pure wine approved by the 
Bible, but the mixed wine the Bible condemns ; now that 
these things are known, is it to be believed that wise and 
good men will continue to sustain by their influence, and 
countenance by their example, drinking usages which tend 
to destroy the dearest interests of man in this world, and 
his eternal interest in the next ? 

This surely ought not to be — God grant that it may not 
be. 

REFLECTIONS ON THE FOREGOING STATEMENTS, 

The facts set forth by Mr. Delavan in the foregoing able 
and conclusive essay, and the strong and unimpeachable 
testimony by which his statements are supported, leave 
nothing to be said except two or three reflections on the 
effects of these adulterations on those who make factitious 
liquors, and those who use them. 

And first, as to those engaged in the adulterating pro- 
cesses described, it is evident that such a business involves 
an immense wear and tear of conscience, and must, in the 
nature of things, fearfully deteriorate the moral character 
and sensibilities. It is not merely a systematic and stu- 
pendous fraud which is thus practiced upon the public. 
That were enough to deaden the hearts of those engaged 
in the business, and wear away all that is honorable and 
upright in their character. But this business is something 
far worse than fraudulent ; it is murderous. The ingredi- 
ents used are, in many cases, deadly poisons, and act upon 
the human system with unerring effect. The man who con- 



DEATH IS BOTTLED UP HERE ! 281 

cocts and sells these abominable mixtures knows full well 
not only that he is counterfeiting, but that he is poisoning 
his fellow-men ; that he is making and vending an article 
which, when taken into the human stomach, will as cer- 
tainly tend to the premature and violent death of his cus- 
tomers, as would arsenic or prussic acid. What a moral 
wreck must that man's character present, who can bring 
himself thus to derive his living and his fortune from such 
a business. What remains of honor, honesty, or humanity 
can we expect to find in those who are engaged in such a 
work? 

II. The other reflections suggested by the revelations of 
Mr. Delavan's tract is, the greatly increased danger of 
those who habitually drink the poisoned liquors of the 
modern manufacturer. Habitual drinking, twenty or 
thirty years ago, was a very different thing from the prac- 
tice now. Never were filthy and poisonous adulterations 
carried to such an extent 'as now. The fact is mentioned 
by a chief of police, that formerly persons taken up drunk 
in the streets, and kept at the station-house to recover, 
would usually become sober in three or four hours, but 
now they rarely come to their senses under seven or eight 
hours. This is but one of the indications of that aggra- 
vated poisoning material introduced into modern liquors. 
The wonder is that those who get drunk on such stuff ever 
get over it. But it is evident that the human system can • 
not long endure it. It must break down in a compara- 
tively short space of time. Formerly habitual drinkers 
might hope to live to old age, but it can not be expected 
now. The average length of drinking men's lives must be 



282 "touch not, taste not, handle not." 

greatly shortened ; diseases multiplied and aggravated, 
are thick-strown all along his short and miserable career, 
and his life is no longer worthy of the name ; it is nothing 
but a living death. 

In view, then, of the truths herein stated, we earnestly 
appeal to all who have been accustomed to indulge, how- 
ever moderately, in this drinking habit, to come to a pause, 
and weigh the facts we have now laid before them. We 
appeal to the reason of men, to the common sense of our 
readers, and to that instinct of self-preservation which the 
Deity has implanted in every bosom. Why should it be 
necessary to plead with men to save their own lives'? 
What more than the facts spread out on these pages should 
be required to induce the whole community, the whole 
nation, to rise as one man against the enormous iniquities 
of the liquor business, and its use and sale !* 

* And may we not add, in view of the facts herein stated, and facts so unde- 
niable and so notorious, that it is not strange that Mr. Delavan should have felt 
impelled (regardless of consequences), by a sense of duty to the church of which 
he was a member, to call attention to the deleterious and unscriptural element 
generally in use in the sacramental cup. Would he not have failed in his duty to 
that church, and to the cause of Temperance, to which he was devoting his life, 
his energies, and his substance, not to have done so ? The question he submitted 
was not, as has been charged, whether wine was to be dispensed with at the 
Lord's Supper, but whether the pure fruit of the vine, the wine, and the only 
wine which the Bible authorizes, ought not to be substituted in the place of the 
vile enforced fabricated intoxicating liquors, falsely called wine, so generally in 
use — fabrications which the Bible condemns, which science condemns, and which 
experience proves to be injurious alike to the temporal and eternal interests of 
man. When the public mind shall become fully informed as to the bearing of 
. the element generally made use of in the sacramental cup, on the overthroio of 
Me liquor trade, mid the triumph of the Temperance cause, the efforts of Mr. 
Delaixm to purify that cup from intoxicating poisons, falsely called wine, will, 
we doubt not, be fully appreciated. 



CHAPTEE XII. 

Jlddbess delivered in the Union House of worship before the Parent Temperance 
Society of Moreau, on the last Monday of Oct., 1843, on their adoption of the 
American Pledge of Total Abstinence from all Intoxicating Liquors ; compris- 
ing the celebrated Anecdote of Little Mary, a child of seven years old (daugh- 
ter of a habitual drunkard), who obtained 151 subscribers to the Temperance 
Pledge, the last of whom was her drunken father. 

WOES OF INTEMPERANCE. 

" Who hath woe ? Who hath sorrows? Who hath contentions? Who bath 
babbling ? Who hath wounds without cause ? Who hath redness of eyes ? They 
that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou 
upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth 
itself aright. At the last, it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." — 
Peov. xxiii. 29-32. 

In the days of King Solomon, the contaminating vice of 
intemperance was prevalent, and its baneful effects were 
daily observable. One of the principal employments of 
the land of Canaan, was the cultivation of vineyards, and 
the manufacture of wines. Mixed wines were scented with 
the most costly and fragrant gums, such as frankincense, 
myrrh, and other rich spices. The most beautiful red 
wines, and, probably, those of the highest flavor, were 
formed by a mixture of the juice of the grape and the juice 
of the pomegranate, a fruit of the apple kind, which ex- 
celled all others for its beautiful red both within and with- 
out, and for its most delicious flavor. 

The manufacture and traffic of wines of various sorts 
constituted a principal source of wealth in that country. 



284 INTRODUCTORY ARRANGEMENT. 

The numerous persons employed in the business were 
continually exposed to the temptation of using wine as a 
common drink, the result of which, in numerous instances, 
was the formation of the habit of intemperance, with all 
its concomitant evils, which drown men in perdition. 

When the habit of intemperance had become firmly 
fixed, men gave themselves up to drunkenness. Much of 
their time was spent where the intoxicating liquor was 
dealt out in profusion ; where the company resorting were 
a set of idlers, wranglers, and drunkards ; and where pov- 
erty, and wretchedness, and woes, and sorrows of the most 
heart-rending description were multiplying on every hand, 
in proportion to the prevalence of the cause which produced 
them. Such scenes of human depravity were alluded to 
in the portion of Scripture selected for the subject of our 
present improvement. 

The instruction comprised in the text may be considered 

INTERROGATORY, ADMONITORY, and CONSEQUENTIAL. 

I. The interrogatory part of the text contains questions 
and answers on the subject of intemperance. "Who hath 
woe 1 Who hath sorrow ? Who hath contentions ? Who 
hath babbling ? Who hath wounds without cause ? Who 
hath redness of eyes V These questions are thus answer- 
ed : " They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to 
seek mixed wine." 

The man who, by tasting and tippling, has contracted 
the habit of intemperance, is liable to all the particular 
evils enumerated in the forecited catalogue. 

Intemperate men have woe. Woe is a word of mourning, 
and denotes loss of happiness, and a state of depression 



INTEMPERATE MEN HAVE WOES. 285 

under heavy calamities. Intemperate men have great cause 
for mourning, for their losses are very great. Their good 
name and reputation (acquirements which are better than 
precious ointment) are lost bv intemperance, and woe is 
their portion. 

Their domestic happiness is lost Once, home was sweet ; 
their firesides were places of enjoyment and happiness. 
But now they behold wives bathed in tears ; children clad 
in tatters ; home filled with perplexity and want ; them- 
selves forsaken of all associates except tipplers ; doomed 
to the constant gnawings of an insatiable thirst for strong 
drink ; what can they expect, but the wretched possession 
of the accumulated woes which are inseparably connected 
with the habit of intemperance % Woe is the intemperate 
man's portion in this life. Woe sounds in his ears. Woe 
perches on his tongue. Woe thrills through every vein. 
Woe preys upon his conscience. Woe overwhelms his 
heart. Woe paralyzes his whole nervous system, and 
trembles on the tips of his fingers. Woe enervates all 
his mental faculties, and fills him with confusion. And 
his only resort for relief from all these woes, is his cup, 
his cup of deadly poison, which, when quaffed and quaffed 
again, prepares him only for heavier woes and deeper 
wretchedness. 

Again, the inquiry proceeds : " Who hath sorrows ?" 
The answer is, "They that tarry long at the wane; they 
that go to seek mixed wine." 

The intemperate man hath many sorrows, overwhelming 
sorrows, which fill him w T ith grief and vexation of the most 
horrific nature. Every resort to his cup for relief, only 



286 WHO HATH CONTENTIONS WHO? 

increases the anguish of his soul in the lucid intervals of 
intoxication, and prepares him for deeper, and more in- 
supportable grief. Frequently, while his countenance 
wears the mask of a feigned smile, his soul is overwhelmed 
with sorrow, which makes him feel as though his very 
heart would break the bars of nature's fortification, and 
dissolve itself in wretchedness. 

In a further interrogation, the question is asked : " Who 
hath contentions?" Answ T er, "They that tarry long at 
the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." The in- 
temperate man hath contentions. He is often engaged in 
debates, contradictions, quarrels, and strife, accompanied 
with malignity of the most ferocious nature. Spirituous 
liquor has a remarkable effect on the disposition of man- 
kind. However affable and peaceful many appear when 
sober, it is generally the fact, that liquor renders them 
self-confident, self-important, self-conceited, self-willed, 
quarrelsome, revengeful, blood-thirsty, and inflexibly bent 
on being avenged on eyerj one who comes in contact with 
any of their preconceived opinions. Hence it comes to 
pass, generally, that intemperate men are fired with the 
spirit of contention on emptying the first glass at a reveL 
Soon a debate arises, about, no matter what. Hasty and 
bitter contradictions follow. Violent quarrels ensue. Con- 
tention rages ; and strife and malignity are kindled into a 
flame, which nothing can quench but an additional quantity 
of the overpowering stimulus of the cup, sufficient to stiff- 
en them with a fit of intoxication in downright drunken- 
ness. 

Again, it is inquired, "Who hath babbling?" If any 



DEFINITION OF BABBLING AND WOUNDS. . 287 

one wishes to know what babbling means, and where the 
art may be acquired, let him be informed, that " babbling' " 
is derived from a word which signifies confusion, and that 
the school of intemperance is the place where the science 
is taught to a degree of perfection. There, the staggering 
pupil soon learns that babbling means senseless prattle, 
idie tittle-tattle, foolish talk, a long-continued gabble of 
nonsense, graced with the dictatorial airs of self-compla- 
cence and self-importance. There, the knowledge will 
soon be obtained, that a company of intemperate men are 
a company of babblers. Each one with his glass in his 
hand has something to say if he can get any one to hear 
him. But, as there is so much more use for tongues than 
for ears, every one is reduced to the necessity of prating 
his own self-important story, whether any listens to him 
or not. And thus, while the force of steam is rising, all 
will gabble at once, and all hear, if they can, at the same 
time; and, if contention prevents not, each will roar a 
peal of laughter at his own story. Such a scene of confu- 
sion amounts to babbling; and, it frequently comes to 
pass, that when language becomes thus confounded at a 
drunken revel, drunkards soon become unable to under- 
stand each other. 

The interrogation proceeds, "Who hath wounds with- 
out cause ?" The answer is, " They that tarry long at. the 
wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine." Wounds al- 
luded to, are bloody noses, eyes gouged out, faces black- 
ened to a jelly, teeth broken from their sockets, hair 
plucked out by the roots, shoulders put out of joint, arms 
broken, ribs cracked, shins bruised, and sometimes the 



288 „ KEDNESS OF EYES AN INDELIBLE WINE-MAEK. 

skull or spine fractured, and the last remaining vital spark 
of life, extinguished. Such are wounds iudeed. And they 
are often some, or all of them, to be found on the living 
bodies or dead carcasses of drunkards. What, then, is the 
cause of the infliction of such cruel, painful, and disgraceful 
wounds as drunkards both give and receive 1 The fact is, 
there is no adequate, no reasonable cause for them. They 
are the effects of drunken revels, and their concomitant 
babblings, contentions, and the fires of vengeance which are 
kindled by intemperance. 

One more question is asked in the catalogue of interro- 
gations, " Who hath redness of eyes ?" The answer is the 
same as above stated, K They that tarry long at the wine ; 
they that go to seek mixed wine." Eedness of eyes is a 
mark that the intemperate man can not hide, unless he 
covers his eyes in the light of day, or performs all his 
movements, like the bat, in the darkness of the night, at 
a distance from human inspection. Such is the drunkard's 
redness of eyes, and such the import of the inscriptions 
which are indelibly fixed around them, that whoever looks 
at them, may read a volume at a glance of the eye, the 
amount of which is, that he who indulges in strong drink 
shall be branded on earth with redness of eyes, as a sure 
token that he is on the downward march to a drunkard's 
grave. However private a person may be in the use of 
his liquor; though he may keep his jug concealed, lest his 
family should know that he uses it; yet, his true and 
faithful blood-vessels round his eyes, will betray him as a 
lover of that poison of life which produces woe, and sorrow, 
and contentions, and babblings, and wounds without cause, 



SOLEMN ADMONITION. ■ 289 

and which, if persisted in, will prepare him for endless 
ruin. 

II. The foregoing interrogatory part of the subject is 
followed with an admonition : " Look not thou upon the 
wine when it is red ; when it giveth its color in the cup ; 
when it moveth itself aright." The lesson of instruction 
taught by this admonition is, that to avoid an evil, it is 
necessary to avoid the temptations which lead to it. The 
beautiful red wine, or any other kind of intoxicating drink 
in the cup, is artfully placed by the ingenious tempter, in 
a manner calculated to captivate the beholder, and induce 
him by the enchanting appearance, to taste how good it is ; 
and when once tasted, the temptation is doubly strength- 
ened to taste again and again, till the delightful beverage 
is so loved and indulged, that an insatiable appetite results 
in the habit of downright intemperance. 

In many instances, a sinful propensity gets firmly seated 
in the heart through the wanton gaze of the eye. This 
dangerous inlet of corruption to the soul is to be watched 
and guarded most vigilantly. If a person allows himself 
to gaze, wishfully, at the high-colored liquor in the cup, it 
will be a great wonder if he does not taste of it before he 
leaves the place. Sin, of every description, is like the 
magnet, designated by its power of attraction, and, per- 
haps, none more so than the sin of intemperance. The 
gazing eye is like the magnetic needle fixed on the object 
of its attraction, until by gazing and desiring, the forbidden 
tree is approached, and touched, its fruit is tasted, and 
here the poisonous contamination commences the work of 
death. Hence the propriety of the apostolic admonition, 

25 



290 DEATH IS BOTTLED UP HERE. 

which ought to be labeled on every vessel containing 
intoxicating liquor in our land and world, " Touch not — 
taste not — handle not," and the reason might be subjoined, 
For death is bottled up here ! 

Of like import is the admonition of King Solomon : 
" Look not thou upon the wine when it is red ; when it 
giveth its color in the cup ; when it moveth itself aright." 
The young man who has been trained up in virtuous habits 
of industry, frugality, and temperance, is hereby admon- 
ished of danger, when business calls him to pass a room 
decorated with bottles and glasses, containing the red and 
enchanting liquor, arrayed in a manner calculated to invite 
a look, and excite a desire of enjoyment, while a tempter 
is ready to set the example and say, Come, take a glass of 
the best liquor you ever tasted. Danger now is near. A 
wishful look may result in a taste, and this first taste may 
be the first step to a life of intemperance, degradation, and 
ruin. A prompt resistance of this temptation, by turning 
away the eyes from the enchanting object with disgust, 
may be the sure passport into the membership of a tem- 
perance society, and an incipient step to a life of virtue 
and usefulness. 

The full import and importance of King Solomon's ad- 
monition can not, however, be clearly understood, without 
considering the figurative allusions of the passage of Holy 
Writ. As an object of temptation, against which the admo- 
nition is pointed, the wine is represented, not only as being 
red, i. e., of the most beautiful color and best kind, but it 
is also represented, as " Giving his color in the cup, and 
moving itself aright '." This latter clause appears to be 



WE5TE DISPLAYING ITS MAGIC POWERS. 291 

figurative. The wine here is personified by a figure of 
speech, in which inanimate things are made to speak or 
act as persons. In this figure, the wine is represented as 
presenting itself to the beholder in the most attractive po- 
sition, giving to itself a color, and moving itself attractively, 
to effect the object of the temptation, and produce a desire 
in the ensnared admirer to taste its flavor, as well as to 
behold its beauty. 

This figurative allusion is doubtless taken from the well- 
known blandishments and artful devices of lascivious per- 
sons to attract the passing traveler to their wanton em- 
braces. Their dress, looks, movements, and whole beha- 
vior, are artfully designed to arrest the attention of the 
unwary, and excite admiration, till, by the most alluring 
insinuations, he should be drawn to an embrace, as a bird 
is caught in a snare. 

The only sure method prescribed in the word of God, 
by which victory over such a temptation may be gained, 
is to turn the eyes instantly from the object, whenever 
and wherever presented, and neither to look at nor come 
nigh to the door of the house of such an enticer. To look 
with desire upon an object of temptation, is to take an 
incipient step in the way of transgression. In a very no- 
table and obvious case, our blessed Saviour declared, that 
even a look of desire upon a forbidden object, constitutes 
a guilty commission of sin in the heart. (See Matt. v. 27.) 
A wanton look was the first criminal act in the train of 
King David's enormous crimes. To avoid the danger of 
temptations to sin, Job made a covenant with his eyes. 
(Job xxxi. 1.) And king David, after his repentance, 



292 turn Away the eyes. 

prayed thus to God, " Turn away mine eyes from behold- 
ding vanity." (Psalm cxix. 37.) 

In allusion to such temptations as have been described, 
and the way to avoid them, King Solomon admonishes in 
relation to the allurements to intemperance, " Look not 
thou upon the wine when it is red ; when it giveth its 
color in the cup ; when it moveth itself aright." When 
the wine in the cup, red and sparkling, is set for an object 
of temptation, look not upon it. Turn away the eyes. 
Make a covenant with them. Pray the Lord to keep them 
turned away, that the artful temptation may pass .without 
effect. And lest it should become a returning snare, keep 
at a distance from it forever, and never give it one look of 
desire, complacence, nor approbation. 

III. The last point proposed for discussion was, in its 
nature, consequential^ or, what may be termed, Inevitable 
consequence of perseverance in a course of intemperance. 

The words of inspiration on which this point is founded, 
in connection with the foregoing part of the subject, are 
thus explicitly stated : " At the last, it biteth like a ser- 
pent, and stingeth like an adder." When the red wine 
sparkles in the cup, it looks beautiful. When it becomes 
an object of desire, and is tasted, it is found to be delicious. 
When the pleasurable taste is gratified till it grows into 
an insatiable thirst, intemperance follows, with all its 
train of earthly woe, and sorrows, and contentions, and 
babblings, and wounds, and reddened tokens of approach- 
ing torment. If the warnings of impending and approxi- 
mating ruin prove to be insufficient incitements to produce 
reform, and the drunkard persists in his downward course 



WINE METAMORPHOSED INTO A VIPER. 293 

till the last offer of Divine favor is made, and is heedlessly 
or obstinately rejected, the transgressor, whose way has 
been uniformly hard through life, now approaches the com- 
mencement of an endless period, during which the very 
source of all his earthly, deceptive, self-gratification is 
metamorposed into objects of inevitable and ceaseless an- 
guish. When dying, and after death, forever, a horrible 
remembrance of the wine, or any other liquor that once 
sparkled in the cup of temptation, and tasted most deli- 
ciously, now, " At the last biteth like a serpent, and sting- 
eth like an adder." 

To mankind, generally, the very sight of a venomous 
serpent is a tremendous object, and can not be endured 
for a moment without producing appalling sensations. 
How much more dreadful must it be, to behold its furious 
approach, accompanied with frightful hisses and menacing 
coils, until, with open mouth, it darts vehemently upon its 
victim, and thrusts its deadly fangs into a sensitive part 
of the body ! The very thought is sufficient to make us 
all shudder. 

But, the bite of a serpent, however dreadful, is surpassed 
in the Divine representation, by a species of torture still 
more tremendous. To render the picture of horror com- 
plete, the stinging of an adder is subjoined, to represent 
the most excruciating torments of the drunkard's last, and 
eternal state of existence. His once enchanting and deli- 
cious cup of strong drink, now " stingeih like an adder" 
Allusion is doubtless had to the tortures of that species 
of the serpent kind called basilisk, or scorpion, whose 
power to inflict a wound, saturated with poison producing 



294: A SCOKPIOX DESCRIBED. 

the most insupportable anguish, is effected by a sting in 
the tail. The animal is said to be furnished with eight 
short feet on the breast, each of which is divided into six 
prongs with a claw at the end. "With these forty-eight 
claws, and his snout, he will dexterously fix his grasp so 
firm on a person, that it is impossible to extricate him 
from his grip, until he has inflicted the wound of anguish 
with his tail. The interior part of the tail of this venom- 
ous creature contains a bladder full of deadly poison. The 
construction of the tail is similar to a string of seven beads, 
with the largest at the end, out of which proceeds a hol- 
low sting, so constructed, that when the blow is struck, 
and a wound made, a portion of the poison from the blad- 
der is injected forcibly into the wound, producing instantly 
the most unspeakably dreadful sensations of keen and 
excruciating anguish. Every body knows how awfully 
dreaded is the sting of the little bee, and what tormenting 
pain is inflicted by it. But how incomparably more 
dreadful must it be to have a scorpion fasten its numerous 
serpentine talons on a person, and strike his tormenting 
sting into the body, in a manner tremendous beyond the 
power of description ! 

Such is the imagery which the book of inspiration has 
furnished, to designate the inexpressible tortures of the 
closing scene, and last state of the man, and all that class 
of men, who, from love of strong drink, live and die in the 
practice of drunkenness. It is an apostolic declaration, 
that " The stins: of death is sin, and the strength of sin is 
the law." A tormenting retrospect of the violated law of 
Jehovah, by a life of intemperance, furnishes such vehe- 



THE STING OF DEATH. 295 

mence to $in 9 the venomous sting of death, that after the 
manner of the scorpion's sting, it pierces the soul of the 
lost drunkard with unspeakable anguish. These horrid 
piercings of the sting of death will constitute, forever, the 
torture of the worm that never dies — 

In that dread lake of woe, 
Where beings of angelic race, once bless'd, 
Now curs'd, forever curs'd, roar Tinder weight 
Of Heaven's eternal wrath. There, also, souls 
Of Adam's race, as curs'd and hopeless, groan, 
And sigh, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth 
In anguish dread, from serpent's painful sting. 
These tortured wretches roar in fruitless cries, 
(For mercy's door is shut, forever shut,) 
Still, loud, despairing cries resound, " Heaven lost, 
Hell gained by drinking rum. In life we drank 
Sweet wine ; but here, thirst burns aflame of wrath, 
While not a drop on finger's tip is found 
Of water, mere, to quench the fire, and c-ooi 
The tongue roasted in torment's flame, O dread 
Tormenting thirst, the fruit of drunkenness !" 

But, horrid, direful more, these stings of death, 

Which pierce tremendous anguish through the soul. 

Each cup of wine, each flowing bowl, each quaff 

Of gin in life, now chang'd to scorpion form, 

With num'rous talons clench'd firm on the heart, 

While tail with horrid sting inflicts deep wounds, 

Forcing the poison of remembrance in 

Each wound. Unnumber'd wounds increasing still 

In number, and in anguish, never to 

Be heal'd ; but swollen with envenom'd pain, 



296 A RECIPE TO CUKE INTEMPERANCE. 

The heart, though full of poison' d wounds, is doom'd 
Forever to be stung. Despairing thought ! 
Forever to be tortur'd with the sting 
Of death ; yet, never dead, and ne'er can die ! 
Sure this is dying an eternal death. 

Such is the inevitable consequence of a life of drunken- 
ness, terminated without repentance. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

I. On a review of the foregoing subject, we see the im- 
portance of the Temperance Eeformation. Time was, 
when the importation and manufacture of the various spe- 
cies of intoxicating liquors constituted a principal source of 
national revenue and wealth, without molestation, and 
received the encouragement of traffickers and consumers as 
contributors to the promotion of national interest. Hence, 
under the auspice of public opinion, strong drink was con- 
sidered a staple commodity of national patronage, of 
individual enterprise, and of common consumption. A 
word against it from any quarter was like the ancient 
attack upon the Temple of the Ephesian Goddess, calcula- 
ted to combine its adherents into a phalanx of the most 
determined self-defense. Thus encouraged, intemperance 
spread its baneful trophies of victory over millions of 
human beings, who fell into the ranks of the destroyer. 

But, Divine Providence , it appears, designed its over- 
throw as an obstruction to the commencement of millennial 
glory, and the period has arrived for the work of extermi- 
nation. We are happy in being able to advert to the facts, 
that under the direction of an adorable Providence, the 



TRY THE EXPERIMENT. 29 7 

Temperance Reformation originated in our land ; that it 
is now uniformly patronized by a great proportion of the- 
rulers of our nation, in conjunction with the spirited efforts 
of a like proportion of the American people ; and that its 
rapid progress and benign influence in other nations, are 
preparing the way, and moving onward to the accomplish- 
ment of a universal Temperance Reformation. 

The importance of the Temperance cause appears con- 
spicuous from its objects in view. One object of the Tem- 
perance Reformation is to reclaim, if possible, intemperate 
persons from their pernicious habits, and restore them to 
temperance, peace, and usefulness in life. Another object 
of this reformation is to influence those who are but just 
beginning to form the habit of intemperance, to consider 
their ways and abandon their course. Another object of 
the reformation is to adopt and pursue perpetual measures 
as preventives to the risirg generation, that the bane of 
intemperance, in due time, may be exterminated from the 
world. And a paramount object of the Temperance 
Reformation is the salvation of millions of immortal beings 
from the ceaseless tortures of the serpent's sting. 

It is not pretended, that merely to avoid intemperance 
will inevitably eventuate in the blessings of eternal haj3pi- 
ness. The text-book of salvation's charter inculcates other 
vices to be abandoned, and other duties to be done. But 
this we affirm, that intemperance alone, persisted in, is a 
moral evil of sufficient magnitude to constitute men 
wretched in this life, and to shut them out of the kingdom 
of heaven in the world to come, for it is expressly declared 
in the book of truth, that " Drunkards shall not inherit the 



298 EXAMPLE AND INFLUENCE* 

kingdom of God" Hence, whatever other vices are to be 
^abandoned, intemperance must be, or men can not be happy 
in a future state of existence. If such, then, are its ob- 
jects, how unspeakably important is the Temperance 
Reformation ! It levels a blow at the root of one of the 
most delusive and destructive vices, and has special respect 
to the present welfare and future blessedness of mankind. 

II. On a review of the foregoing subject, we are led, in 
a second remark, to consider the importance of promoting 
the Temperance Reformation by example and influence. 

Every person in the community has the power, in a 
greater or less degree, of doing good, or evil, by example 
and influence. A temperate man's example and influence 
will do good. An intemperate man's example and in- 
fluence will prevent much good, and do much evil. Every 
degree which men possess of the power of doing good, is 
needed to promote the cause of temperance. 

The example necessary to aid this cause, is simply to be 
truly and conscientiously temperate; to subscribe the 
pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors \ 
and, uniformly and scrupulously to regard and keep the 
principles of that pledge, both in the letter and spirit of it, 
whether at home or abroad, in city or in country, in all the 
walks, and under all the circumstances of life, in defiance 
of the power of alluring temptations, and unappalled at 
the array of the most formidable opposition. Such ex- 
emplars evince to all who know them, that the cause of 
temperance is of God ; that its object is to promote the 
good of mankind; and, that it is just as important that 
this cause should be promoted, as it is that millions of im- 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD EXAMPLE. 299 

mortal beings in the road to destruction should be rescued 
from the curse of drunkenness, from the drunkard's grave, 
and from the drunkard's perdition. 

The importance of good example to promote morality, 
religion, and every worthy and benevolent object among 
men, must be obvious to all persons of observation and 
reflection. And in nothing, perhaps, does example bear 
greater weight than it does in the promotion of the cause 
of temperance, for the reason, that temperance is a very 
exciting subject, and one in which the community, general- 
ly, are spiritedly divided for or against. The advocates of 
temperance profess anxiety that all mankind would aban- 
don every species of intoxicating drinks, and sign the tem- 
perance pledge, that the Temperance Reformation might 
be speedily consummated, and our planet, earth, become 
a sober world. The opposers of temperance, and even 
those who are measurably indifferent on the subject (what- 
ever may be their character in other respects) are, gener- 
ally, eagle-eyed, and keep a vigilant look-out, if possible, 
to find materials for self-justification against the imputation 
of all alleged blame and danger, and also to fortify them- 
selves with the power of rebutting arguments to break 
down, or, at least, to neutralize, any force of moral 
suasion that may be brought to bear against them. And, 
among all known or conceivable weapons of warfare which 
they endeavor to wield in their favor, both offensive and 
defensive, none are found to be more effective than the 
fact of an ill-example of one who professedly advocates the 
cause of temperance. Suppose, for instance, that it should 
be found out to be a fact, that a pledged member of tern- 



300 EFFECTS OF ILL EXAMPLES. 

perance keeps his bottle of wine, or any other alcoholic 
liquor in his house for private use, until his hypocrisy is 
discovered by the redness of his eyes and nose ; and sup- 
pose it be found out that another professed temperance 
advocate is directly or indirectly interested in the manu- 
facture or traffic of ardent spirits ; and that another is in- 
terested in furnishing materials and various accommodations 
as a partner in the commerce, or an accomplice, or agent in 
the traffic of intoxicating liquor for the sake of gain ; that 
another drank brandy at a steamboat bar; another drank 
wine profusely at a wedding party, and that a reformed 
drunkard had relapsed into his old course of intoxication. 
What will be the effect of such ill examples ; they will be 
seized on by the opposers of temperance as evidence that 
the cause of temperance is a system of hypocrisy, and that 
its advocates are all hypocrites. Such ill examples do 
more to injure the cause of tempera'nce and retard the pro- 
gress of the reformation, than the combined malignity of 
its enemies can effect by their cavils, objections, slanders, 
and most virulent opposition. 

From such considerations we learn the importance of 
good examples to promote the cause of temperance, and to 
aid in carrying forward its reformation. Good precepts 
should always be accompanied and enforced by good 
examples. And, let it be well considered, that one good 
example may be blest to the reformation of a drunkard, 
and, eventually, to the prevention of thousands from in- 
heriting the drunkard's grave; while one bad example may 
be instrumental of emboldening the devotees of intemper- 
ance in their wickedness to the eventual destruction of 



INFLUENCE OF A LITTLE GIRL. 301 

thousands of immortal souls. Hence, the effects of both 
good and bad examples may be incalculable on society to 
the end of time, and enter into eternity. 

Example is the basis of influence, whether it be good or 
evil. If the professed principles of a man be good, and 
his examples are also good, his influence will be salutary, 
and tend to promote the interest and happiness of his fel- 
low men. Just in proportion to the extent of their 
acquaintance with, and confidence in him, will be the 
degree of his influence over them for good. As there is so 
much yet to be done to consummate the Temperance Re- 
formation, how important, then, is it, that both the example 
and influence of all who wish well to the present and eter- 
nal interest of mankind, be exerted to promote this most 
desirable enterprise. 

The influence requisite to promote the cause, is compris- 
ed in endeavors to recommend temperance to all with 
whom we have intercourse in life, and to adopt and pursue 
all laudable, practicable, and persuasive measures to win 
opposers over to engage in the cause by their signature to 
its pledge, and united exertion with its friends, to rid this 
world from the curse of intemperance. If all who profess 
to believe in the correctness of temperance principles, 
would thus exert their example and influence for the pro 
motion of the cause, with half the energy and success that 
characterized the efforts of the celebrated little Mary (a 
child about eight years old, who obtained one hundred and 
fifty-one signatures to the temperance pledge, among whom 
were her school-teacher, nearly all her school-mates, and 
her drunken father), how would the temperance cause 

26 



802 THE ANECDOTE OF LITTLE MARY. 

prosper !* This little girl set a good example to all other 
children, when she volunteered her services to take the 
temperance pledge, and see how many subscribers she 
could obtain.- And this worthy example, which has already 
immortalized her name on the annals of temperance, 
secured to her a personal influence over one hundred and 
fifty-one others, who signed the pledge on her presentation. 
Who can compute the amount of good which may result 
from the example and influence of this little girl ? The 
facts, in detail, have been published extensively by the 
temperance presses, read by thousands, yea millions, and 
told by them to others. And wherever the facts are known, 
the example and influence of " Little Mary," are heard to 
say, in tones sweeter than the organ's melody, " Children, 
children, go ye and do likewise" O, if but one such 
child could be found in every family, or but one in every 
school district, how would the temperance cause flourish ! 
The anecdote of little Mary, as near as memory serves, 
was as follows : A temperance lecturer appointed a meet- 
ing in a country school-house at a late hour in the afternoon, 
but early enough to accommodate the children of the 
school who might wish to be hearers. Consequently, the 
teacher and children of the school comprised the principal 
proportion of his audience, for but few of the inhabitants 
of the school district attended. Of course, much of the 
address was adapted to children. Near the close of his 
address, the lecturer took from his pocket a paper, on 
which was written or printed the temperance pledge, and 
inquired which of the children of the school would take 
* See Temperance Recorder, Vol. viii. No. iv. June, 1839. 



MARY PROSTRATE ON THE FLOOR. 303 

that pledge, and see how many subscribers to it could be 
obtained among the children and people of that neighbor- 
hood. 

A little girl whose name was Mary, about seven years 
old, daughter of a notorious drunkard, rose and said she 
would take the pledge and get all the subscribers she could, 
and thus the meeting was closed. In the evening the 
father came home intoxicated, and nothing was said to him 
till morning, when Mary presented herself before him with 
her temperance pledge, stating how she came by it, and 
asked her father to sign it. He looked at her maliciously 
and indignantly, saying, "Don't come to me w T ith your 
temperance nonsense," at the same time aiming a full blow 
on the side of her head with his flat hand, which laid her 
prostrate on the floor ! On seeing her fall, and rise, crying, 
with her pledge still in her hand, a heavier blow smote him 
on the conscience for his drunkenness and cruelty, which 
resulted in a secret resolution in his own mind that he 
would never again in life taste of the poisonous, soul- 
destroying liquor, that had prepared him for such a deplo- 
rable disaster. This resolution was for the time being 
kept a secret in his own mind. 

Little Mary, after partaking the consolation of an afflict- 
ed, broken-hearted mother, went to school with her tem- 
perance pledge, and obtained upon it that day the signature 
of her teacher and the whole, or nearly the whole, of the 
attending children of the school. On her return home at 
evening, she showed her paper to her mother, privately, 
but fearing to say any thing to her father, gave him an 
opportunity of further acquaintance with conscience silent- 



30i MARY GETTING SUBSCRIBERS. 

ly ; and this state of things continued, without one word 
of Mary to her father, or he to her, on the subject of the 
temperance pledge, for about two weeks, during which time 
Mary improved every opportunity every day, by the con- 
sent and counsel of her mother, to go to the families in the 
neighborhood, and obtain from young and old of all ranks 
and all classes, the signatures of their names to her tem- 
perance pledge, that she could obtain ; the father observing 
her movements, but reserving his thoughts, feelings, and 
convictions to himself. 

At length the time came when he could keep silence no 
longer. One morning, before school-time, he called Mary 
to him and said, " Mary, how many names have you got 
subscribed to your temperance pledge]" "I will show 
you the paper," said she, running to her place of deposit, 
and handing to him the paper which had cost her a blow 
on the head and a heavier blow on her father's heart, which 
was now coming to light. The father took the paper, 
sitting in his chair, and Mary with anxiety standing before 
him, looking him full in the face, while he counted the 
number of names on the temperance pledge; and when 
done, looking pleasantly at her in the face he said. "Mary, 
you have got one hundred and fifty names signed on your 
paper !" On hearing this, she sprang on to his lap, threw 
her arms round his neck, impressed a sweet kiss on his 
cheek, and earnestly said, " Father, now you sign it, and 
that will make one hundred and fifty one I" " Mary," said 
the father, " I will do it," and immediately added his name 
to the roll of temperance signatures, and explained to his 
family the convictions of his mind from the circumstance 



HAPPY KESULT OF HER INFLUENCE. 305 

of his cruel blow, which had been providentially overruled 
for his conversion to the cause of temperance. 

As he was a laboring man, and knew no occupation but 
that of tilling the ground, to break off from former associ- 
ates in drunken revels, he removed with his family about 
a day's journey, took a farm on shares, and began to live 
a new life of temperance, industry, frugality, and what was 
best of all, devotion to the worship and service of his God 
and Saviour, trusting in the Lord, and doing good to his 
fellow-men. After the lapse of several years, it so came 
to pass in the providence of God, that the same temper- 
ance lecturer, who gave to little Mary the temperance 
pledge when her father was a drunkard, visited the family 
in their new abode, and became acquainted with the won- 
derful history of the little scrap of paper which he had 
given to Mary when a child. Here, to his joy and grati- 
tude to God, he found from authentic testimony that the 
once drunken father had become -a professed Christian, a 
member of an evangelical church, and the superintendant 
of their flourishing Sabbath school ; that his wife also was 
a member with him — that Mary, now in her teens, was a 
member of the church, and teacher in the Sabbath school ; 
in all, constituting a Christian family of prayer and devo- 
tion to the service and glory of God, and ornaments of 
instrumental usefulness, promoting the cause of temper- 
ance. 

But, alas ! lovers of money and lovers of alcohol find 
thousands of reasons to quiet their consciences by specious 
professions of friendship, while the whole w r eight of both 
their example and influence is thrown into the scale, either 



306 EXAMPLE AND INFLUENCE OF RUM-SELLERS. 

in direct or indirect opposition to the cause of temperance. 
Although there is a palpable absurdity in all pretensions to 
friendship for the cause of temperance, while the example 
and influence are against the cause ; yet, lamentable as the 
fact may be, it must be told, exposed, and published to the 
world, that every manufacturer of intoxicating drinks of 
any description, either for his own consumption, or to sell 
and get gain, throws the weight of his example and influence 
into the scale in opposition to the cause of temperance, 
whatever may be his professions of friendship to it. Every 
trafficker in the article of intoxicating poison, whether by 
wholesale or retail, under the sanction of license law, or by 
adopting a subterfuge to obtain the advantages of selling 
the beverage of death without paying for the legalizing 
power of indulgence to do it, takes his stand in the ranks 
of opposition to the cause of temperance, whatever may 
be his pretensions of friendship. Every consumer of alco- 
holic drinks (whether they be fermented liquors of the most 
pleasant flavor, or distilled spirits saturated with liquid fire ; 
whether the consumer be an occasional drinker of the most 
temperate caste, or a daily tippler, wine-bibber, hard- 
drinker, or downright drunkard), sets an example, and 
exerts an influence in opposition to the cause of temperance. 
All cavillers who indulge themselves in various, frivo- 
lous, slanderous, malicious objections, and inuendoes against 
the cause of temperance and its advocates, refusing to sign 
the pledge on the pretext that temperance is a system of 
priestcraft, a deprivation of human rights, a political juggle, 
and what not, whether they use intoxicating liquor or not, 
do in reality identify themselves with the drunkard's party. 



THE AUTHOR'S TEMPERANCE CREED. 307 

Now, my hearers, in view of all that has been said, are 
you for or against the cause of temperance? If for it, 
manifest the fact by a life of conformity to its principles. 
If against it, pause and consider before you fall into end- 
less perdition. 

In Conclusion, The following is my temperance creed : 
Let the temples of Fame declare to succeeding generations 
the names and mighty achievements of departed heroes. 
Let the pages of history extol the sanguinary exploits of 
the great chieftains of the earth, and describe how they 
conquered and fell. Let Alexander, and Caesar, and 
Napoleon, and others of less note, have the glory of all 
that the world call great. But, be it my humble lot to 
have it engraved in truth on my unadorned tombstone, 
"He was a man of temperance, evinced by profession, 
precept, example, and consequent influence, founded on 
love to God and good- will to fellow- men," and it shall be 
my glory and happiness forever to render ascriptions of 
praise to Him who saved me by His grace from drunken- 
ness, and its woes and sorrows, and delivered me from the 
tortures of the serpent's sting. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Keminiscence of Virtuous Females, and the results of their benevolent Influence ; 
selected from the Days of the Mother of Moses, to the Middle of this Nineteenth 
Century, for the Promotion of True Keligion and the Temperance Reformation 

WHAT KNOWEST THOU, O WIFE, WHETHER THOU SHALT SAVE 
THY HUSBAND % 1 COR. vii. 16. 

By the Divine constitution, woman was primarily or- 
dained a helpmeet for man. Partaking of the same nature, 
and invested with like intellectual faculties, she is design- 
edly calculated to divide with him the toils, the cares, the 
joys, and sorrows of life. The history of her existence 
has long since proved, that such, in fact, is the amount of 
her share with him, during their journey together through 
the wilderness of this world. In the social relations, rela- 
tive duties, and reciprocal enjoyments of life, their allot- 
ment is identified as one, and all their temporal, spiritual, 
and eternal interests, are designed to be shared together, 
as jointFneirs of the same common Parent, to all that is 
lovely, and praiseworthy, and happifying, and honorable^ 
and glorious. 

The apostolic question in the text, is based upon the 
facts, that man and woman, by transgression, have both 
become sinners, and are exposed to ruin. By grace, an 
effectual door of mercy is open for their mutual salvation. 



FOUNDATION OF FEMALE INFLUENCE. 309 

And not only the influence of the man over his wife may 
be instrumental in her recovery from sin to holiness, and 
to the joys of the blessed ; but, also, the influence of the 
woman over her husband may be instrumental! y exerted 
for his salvation. Hence the interesting question, " What 
knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy hus- 
band?" 

The design of this discourse is to consider the foundation 
and extent of Female Influence, and, particularly, its 
happy results, when it has been exerted in favor of the 
cause of true religion and temperance. 

I. The foundation of female influence is generally laid in 
maternal relation. While receiving sustenance from the 
breast, an attachment is formed for the mother, which uni- 
formly proves to be the first ligament to bind man to 
woman in the most tender and indissoluble affection. 
Hence, mothers sustain an almost unbounded influence 
over their children, in the formation of mind and morals. 
The discreet mother's influence is discoverable by her 
children's subordination. Trained in a system of timely 
subjection, they read their duty in almost every move- 
ment of the parent. Her look commands respect, and is 
cheerfully obeyed. Her frown awes to silent submission. 
Her counsel is the rule of action ; yea, more, it is a law 
that forms and governs the conscience, and enforces willing 
obedience with more promptitude than the scourge of 
scorpions could produce, where no such parental influence 
exists. 

A paramount source of female influence is that which a 
wife possesses over her husband. The influence of woman 



310 EXTENT OF FEMALE INFLUENCE. 

is, in a very great degree, imperative, and, generally, bears 
a powerful sway over the mind and conduct of man. 
Hence, a prudent and affectionate wife is capable of doing 
more to deter her husband from an evil course, and to 
persuade him to engage in the practice of virtue, and in 
many cases accomplishes her object more effectually, than 
probably could otherwise have been accomplished by the 
fear of punishment, or the hope of reward. 

II. Female influence is almost incalculably extensive, 
and its results are uniformly for evil or for good. Al- 
though the first mother of mankind was first in the trans- 
gression in the garden of Eden, and although many of her 
depraved daughters, in various periods of the world, have 
exerted an unholy influence over mankind, to the utter 
destruction of many souls, and tending to the promotion 
of the kingdom of darkness, yet it should always be re- 
membered with gratitude, that Heaven has blessed the 
world with the existence of women, whose influence has 
crushed the tyrant's power, broken the chains of slavery, 
set captives free, delivered from death, relieved the op- 
pressed, and diffused peace and consolation among the 
sons and daughters of affliction. 

When ancient Israel was greatly oppressed, during 
twenty years, by Jabin, king of Canaan, who fought them 
with his " nine hundred chariots of iron," Deborah, a proph- 
etess and judge of Israel, by her influence and prowess, 
under the Divine direction and superintendence, discom- 
fited the enemy, and delivered her nation from the yoke 
of bondage. In this memorable contest, Jael, the wife of 
Heber, with her hammer and nail, fastened the head of 



QUEEN ESTHER OF PERSIA. 311 

Sisera, the captain of Jabin's host, to the ground, as he 
slept in a tent, so that he slept the sleep of death. The 
overthrow and destruction of the king, his master, una- 
voidably followed soon after, and the victory was celebra- 
ted in a song of praise to the Lord, by a " Mother in Isra- 
el" and continues to be sung, and will continue to be sung 
as long as the Bible is published in the world. (See 
Judges iv. and v.) 

In the ancient court of Persia was an instance of female 
influence which has been gratefully commemorated by the 
nation of the Jews during thousands of years past, and 
continues to be celebrated, even down to the present time. 
By a most nefarious and complicated stratagem of a prime 
minister of the Persian Empire, and next in honor to the 
king, the whole nation of the Jews, who were then subject 
to the power of Persia, was sentenced to destruction by 
the royal decree. The sanguinary work of death was to 
be performed in a single day, which was determined by 
lot, and commission was given to all officers of the vast 
empire to be ready ofi that day " to kill and cause to per- 
ish" every man, woman, and child belonging to the nu- 
merous, and at that period, defenseless nation of the Jews. 

But, was the bloody decree executed? Was the whole 
nation of God's covenant people, his Church included, cut 
off at a blow, and exterminated from the earth? No, 
verily. Divine interposition prevented the calamity through 
the instrumentality of female influence. Queen Esther, 
of Persia, at the risk of her crown and life, defeated the 
murderous plot. The inventor of mischief ended his life 
on a gallows, as the result of his stratagem. Desolation 



312 FEAST OF PURIM. 

overwhelmed his household. And the trembling Jews, 
who were on the briak of ruin, found deliverance from 
sudden and indiscriminate death. 

This providential deliverance is still commemorated by 
the Jewish nation, dispersed over the face of the earth, in 
their observance of the annual feast of Purim, i. e., the 
lot, by which the Jews' enemy determined the proposed 
massacre of the nation to be on the thirteenth day of the 
month Adar, answering to about the first of our March. 
The two days following that dreadful lot were days of vic- 
tory, deliverance, and rejoicing, to the emancipated nation, 
and the decree was ordained to observe these days of Purim 
as days of feasting and gladness through all their succeed- 
ing generations ; and thus the feast is kept with great scrup- 
ulosity. Every little child that can read, may find this 
wonderful story in the book of Esther, the substance of 
which is comprised in a single poetical sentence in the New 
England Primer : 

" Queen Esther comes, in royal state, 

m 

To save the Jews from dismal fate." 

When Rome was under the government of the Tribunes, 
nearly five hundred years before Christ, a remarkable in- 
stance of female influence was instrumental in saving that 
metropolis from the horrors of a bloody siege. Marcius, 
a young ambitious Roman, so distinguished himself at the 
siege and conquest of Corioli, a city of the Volscians, that 
he was honored with the surname of Coriolanus. Proud 
of his dignity, he set up his opinion with such violence, in 
opposition to the measures of the Tribunes, in relation to 



MOTHER OF COKIOLANUS. 313 

the distribution of a quantity of corn in a time of scarcity, 
that it nearly created a civil war, and terminated in an 
official sentence of his perpetual banishment from Rome. 
He fled to the Volscian s, whose city he had conquered, 
made peace with the Volscian king, and obtained his coun- 
sel, and the aid of his war forces, to return in hostile arms, 
and be revenged on his country for the sentence of banish- 
ment passed on him by the Tribunes. 

Arrayed at the head of the Volscian army, he approached 
Rome, spreading desolation on his way, until he planted 
his standard within five miles of the city, and prepared for 
a desperate attack. Rome trembled. An embassy was 
dispatched, with terms of pacification, to reconcile the in- 
vader to his country ; but the embassage was treated with 
disdain. Pacific proposals were repeated, and as often re- 
jected with implacable resentment. Every effort for peace 
failing, the ladies of Rome proposed an embassy. With 
Volumnia (or Veturia, as she is called by some historians), 
the illustrious mother of the hostile general, at their head, 
a procession of Roman ladies marched out of the city to 
exert their influence for peace. They presented their plea 
without success, until the oppressed mother, in presence of 
her son, uncovering her breasts, that once give him suste- 
nance, cried out in words of following import : " Here, 
Coriolanus, if you are determined on the destruction of your 
country ', let your first weapon of death be thrust into the 
heart of your mother /" 

This address awakened the feelings of humanity. The 
heart of stone was melted. The spirit of revenge and hos- 
tility w-as overcome. In answer to his mother's pathetic ap- 

27 



314 MONUMENT OF THE ROMAN SENATE. 

peal to conscience, the invader cried out, " Rome is saved, 
but your son is lost" This was, in fact, the result of the 
extraordinary interference of female influence in behalf 
of public tranquillity. Peace was immediately restored. 
Rome was saved from the fear of desolation. But Corio- 
lanus was assassinated by the enraged and disappointed 
Volscians. 

To commemorate this instance of female influence, so 
favorable to the republic, the Senate of Eome caused a 
temple to be erected and dedicated to the " Fortune of 
Women," into which none but ladies were permitted to 
enter. (See iii. Epocha of Roman history.) 

Female influence has lost nothing in the progress of 
time, from years of ancient date, to the present period. It 
has often appeared conspicuous in directing the political 
and moral revolutions of the world. It has contributed to 
the advancement of arts and sciences. It has conduced to 
the amelioration of society. And it has diffused a savor of 
benevolence among mankind, more delightful than the 
fragrance of Sharon; more precious than the spices of 
Arabia ; more valuable than the gold of Ophir. 

Such is the extent of female influence. 

III. In the next place, let us consider the beneficial and 
happy results of female influence, when it has been ex- 
erted in favor of the cause of God in the promotion of 
true religion. 

In selecting instances of female influence which has con- 
tributed to the promotion of true religion, we shall not be 
confined to the period of the gospel dispensation, but shall 
feel authorized to notice testimony in point wherever we 



MOSES IN HIS AKK AMONG FLAGS. 315 

find it authentic, whether it be in the history of the Jewish 
dispensation, or in the history of the Church under the 
gospel ; for the cause of God is one, and the means of 
promoting it in every period, are subject to His sovereign 
and holy superintendence. 

Under the ancient barbarous Egyptian law of Infanti- 
cide, which doomed all male Hebrew infants to death as 
soon as they were born, an instance of female influence, in 
the preservation of the life of a male infant, resulted in an 
ever-memorable blessing to the Church of God. 

At the birth of the child, those who were commissioned 
to execute the inhuman law, devised an excuse to justify 
themselves in the non-performance of their cruel office, 
and thus left the infant alive in the arms of its mother. 
In the exercise of faith in God, the pious mother concealed 
her child, till the prospect of detection moved her to in- 
close the infant in an ark of bulrushes, to lay it among the 
flags at the brink of the Nile, and thus commit her dear 
child to the protection of Heaven, while the sister of the 
infant was stationed near the place to watch the movements 
of an adorable Providence. Thus exposed to chilling damps, 
and to the devouring glut of the voracious crocodile, the 
little object of divine protection lay secure from harm. 
Had any ordinary person found him, instant death would 
have been inevitable by the royal decree. But such faith 
as that mother in Israel possessed, takes hold on God, hangs 
fast to His promise, and never lets go the hold, which is a 
sure token that divine interposition will never fail to re- 
ward it. So it was in this case. 

Under the superintendence of Divine Providence, an 



316 PROVIDENTIAL HEBREW NURSE. 

object of curiosity was discovered by the king's daughter 
among the flags. On examination, it was found to contain 
a weeping infant. The affecting sight moved the compas- 
sion of the young princess. Concluding it to be a Hebrew 
child, she determined it should live, notwithstanding her 
father's law condemned it to death. The sister of the babe 
offering her service to procure a Hebrew nurse, was di- 
rected by the royal lady to that effect, and, as a matter of 
course, the child's mother was the person selected. O 
with what emotions of gratitude did this pious mother 
review this mysterious providence of God, in answer to 
her faith and prayers, when the application was made by 
her daughter, under the sanction of royal authority, to en- 
gage her to be the nurse of her own dear child ! 

Every little boy and girl in this assembly, and in Chris- 
tendom, who has read the Bible, knows that this little 
infant, thus providentially delivered from death through 
the instrumentality of female influence, was named Moses, 
because he was drawn out of the water. When grown to 
manhood, he was commissioned to denounce the judgments 
of Heaven on Egypt, to deliver the Hebrew nation from 
bondage, to conduct the emancipated tribes through the 
Red Sea into the wilderness of Sinai, and to receive the 
moral law from the hand of God on the mount, and pub- 
lish it to Israel, and to the church in every age, as the un- 
erring rule of life. Thus he was honored as the great 
temporal deliverer, leader, and lawgiver of Israel, and an 
eminent type of the Lord Jesus, the Divine Saviour of the 
world. 

This instance of female influence, so favorable to the 



A CHILD LEXT TO THE LORD. 317 

interest of Zion, is commemorated by more than pillars 
of marble, or statues of gold, or splendid temples for fes- 
tive celebration. The history is recorded in the book of 
God, and many hundred years after, was referred to by 
apostolic inspiration, as an act highly approved by the 
Almighty, and an example of faith worthy of perpetual 
remembrance and imitation. (See Exod. i., ii., and on ; 
also Heb. xi. 23-29.) 

It was through the pious instructions and holy examples 
of Naomi, a woman of Bethlehem-Judah, that Ruth, her 
widowed daughter-in-law, a Moabitess, and worshiper of 
idols, was converted to the love and worship of the God 
of Israel, and eventually became the wife of Boaz, a dis- 
tinguished Israelite, and an ancestor of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. (See Book of Ruth.) 

Such powerful female influence once accompanied a fer- 
vent prayer to the throne of the Almighty, at a time when 
the Jewish priesthood was most shamefully corrupted by 
the unrestrained wickedness of Eli's sons, that Samuel, 
the noted prophet, reformer, and judge of Israel, was given 
in birth to Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, of Mount 
Ephraim. In fulfillment of her solemn vow, the child was 
devoted to God from his birth, and was trained up for 
spiritual service in the church. And the eminently useful 
life of this holy man and distinguished prophet of the 
Lord, was a practical comment on the words of his pious 
mother to Eli, the judge of Israel, when she dedicated her 
child to the Lord in Shiloh. " For this child I prayed, and 
the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 
Therefore, also, I have lent him to the Lord ; as long as he 



318 LITTLE HEBREW CAPTIVE MAID. 

liveth, he shall be lent unto the Lord." (See 1 Sam. chap. 
i., and on.) 

It was through the instrumentality of a few words, 
uttered by a little Hebrew captive maid-servant to her 
mistress, that Naaman, the noted Syrian leper, who was 
major-general of the host of Benhadad, the great king of 
Syria, obtained introduction to the prophet Elisha, was 
cured of a most dangerous leprosy, and eventually re- 
nounced idolatry, and became a professed worshiper of 
the God of Israel. (2 Kings v.) 

Through the influence of Eahab, a citizen of ancient 
Jericho, the Hebrew spies were preserved from detection 
when viewing the land of Canaan. By this means, the way 
was prepared for the chosen tribes to take possession of 
their promised inheritance. At the destruction of Jericho, 
the life of this benefactress of God's people, and the lives 
of her household, were preserved from death ; she was in- 
corporated with the church of Israel, became mother of 
the famed Boaz of Bethlehem-Judah, and an ancestor of 
the blessed Saviour. (See Book of Joshua ii. and xi.) 

Through the influence of Mary Magdalene, the body of 
our blessed Redeemer was anointed for burial with very 
costly ointment, the memorial of which is told in the 
whole world — wherever the gospel is preached, and will 
thus continue to be told to the end of time. And it was 
through her instrumentality, by an early rising on the 
Lord's day, that the disciples of our Saviour were first made 
acquainted with the fact, that the crucified Jesus was risen 
from the dead. (See Mat. xxvi. 6-13 ; and Mark xvi.9-1 1.) 

Through the influence of Lois, and her daughter Eunice, 



SELECTION FROM ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 319 

two eminently pious Jewish ladies, Timotheus, a son of 
the latter, was trained from childhood in the knowledge of 
the Scriptures ; and, eventually, by the blessing of God on 
the means of pious instruction, this young soldier of Christ 
became a noted evangelist, a powerful preacher of the 
gospel, a companion in labor with the great apostle Paul, 
an instrument of turning many to righteousness, and, con- 
sequently, an heir of the promise of " shining as the stars 
forever and ever." (See Epistles to Timothy.) 

Ecclesiastical history informs us of several remarkable 
instances of royal female influence exerted in favor of the 
Christian religion, which resulted in the hopeful conversion 
of kings, the husbands of the royal ladies, and were followed 
by extensive reformations in their respective kingdoms. 
The following summary is selected from unquestionable 
authority : 

In the latter part of the fifth century, Clovis, a pagan 
king of France, was hopefully converted to the Christian 
faith through the instrumentality of his queen. Clovis was 
the founder of the French monarchy. He married Clo- 
tilda, a royal lady of the house of Burgundy. Though 
brought up among Arian heretics, still she was eminently 
pious, zealous for the doctrines of revelation, and of exem- 
plary deportment. 

At the time of her marriage, pagan darkness prevailed, 
and divine truth had scarcely a patron of eminence in Eu- 
rope. Clovis had great affection for his queen; but he 
hated the Saviour whom she loved and worshiped. His 
gods were the work of men's hands. She reasoned with 
him on the vanity of his idols, and recommended Chris- 



320 CLOTILDA, QUEEN OF CLOVIS. 

tianity to him as the only true religion. She was blessed 
with a son, and resolved to train him up for the Lord. 
The child was taken sick and died. This event was pecu- 
liarly trying to the faith of Clotilda. With bitterness the 
king reproached her. " / have lost my child because he has 
been devoted to your deities : had he been devoted to mine, he 
would have lived" The reply of the bereaved and deeply 
afflicted mother was, " I thank God, who has thought me 
worthy to bear a child whom he has called into his king- 
dom." She was blessed with another son, whom she lent 
to the Lord. This child was also taken sick. The father 
now raged, and again upbraided the queen with the most 
bitter reflections on her religion, as the foundation of their 
former bereavement and present affliction. A fervent 
ejaculation to God for the recovery of the child was all the 
reply of the afflicted mother. God heard her prayer, and 
restored the child to health. 

Notwithstanding discouragements, Clotilda persevered 
in her prayerful endeavors to win her husband over to the 
faith and practice of Christianity. But Clovis remained 
inflexible in his opposition to the gospel, until an interpo- 
sition of Divine Providence convinced him of the vanity 
of trusting to his idol gods. Engaged in a war with the 
powers ot Germany, he was upon the point of a total de- 
feat at the head of his army. Discovering his danger, he 
lifted up his eyes to heaven, with tears, and uttered the 
following words : " O Jesus Christ ! whom Clotilda affirms 
to be the Son of the living God, I implore thy aid. If 
thou givest me the victory I will believe, and be baptized, 
for I have called upon my own gods in vain." 



INGONDA, DAUGHTER OF A KING. 321 

While he was speaking, the enemy commenced a retreat, 
and,. being pursued, submitted, and craved quarters. Re- 
turning from the war victorious, Clovis applied for instruc- 
tion to the Bishop of Rheims, and himself, his sister, and 
eventually about three thousand of his subjects, were bap- 
tized. He was at that time the only prince in Europe 
who professed orthodox Christianity. This instance of 
female influence in favor of the gospel was succeeded by 
very signal results in Europe. The prevailing Arian 
heresy received a severe check. The apostolic faith re- 
vived. Sound doctrine prevailed. And many perishing 
sinners were hopefully converted to the Lord Jesus. 

In the latter part of the sixth century, Ingonda, a royal 
lady, was instrumental of a special revival of religion in 
Spain. 

Ingonda was daughter of the King of France. She was 
given in marriage to Hermenigildus, son of Levigildus, 
king of the Visigoths in Spain. Both the king and his son 
were Arian s, and bitter enemies to Christianity. But 
Ingonda, the wife of the young prince, was a devoutly 
pious woman, and sound in the Christian faith. Though 
greatly persecuted by her mother-in-law, the wife of the 
Spanish monarch, yet, this precious woman persevered 
in her exertions to promote the cause of Christ, until, 
through her instrumentality, her husband was hopefully 
brought into the fold of the Lord Jesus. This excited the 
bitter persecution of the enraged Arian father to such a 
degree, that the pious couple, both the young Christian 
prince, and Ingonda, his much loved and devoted wife, fell 
victims to the rage of persecution, and suffered martyrdom 



322 BEBTHA, QUEEN OF ETI1ELBERT. 

for the love they bore to their blessed Redeemer. The 
result, however, was favorable to Christianity. Ortho- 
doxy revived, was established, and flourished in Spain; 
and Arianism, which had long infested that kingdom, was 
eventually exterminated. 

Female influence greatly facilitated the spread of the 
gospel on the island of Great Britain, at a time when that 
highly favored land was overspread with idolatry and 
heresy. 

Bertha, the only daughter of Caribet, king of Paris, a 
descendant of Clovis, was given in marriage to Ethelbert, 
king of Kent, a Saxon prince of great wisdom and power. 
This royal lady was not inferior in zeal for the cause of 
Christ to the renowned Clotilda ; *but her husband was a 
worshiper of idols. An express stipulation of their mar- 
riage contract was, that she should be allowed the free 
possession of Christianity, in which she had been educated. 
Not long after her settlement in Kent, as Queen of Saxony, 
Gregory, bishop of Eome, sent Augustine and several 
other missionaries to the island of Great Britain, to preach 
the gospel in that land of moral darkness. Divine Provi- 
dence directed these missionaries to the palace of Bertha. 
How great must have been her joy to see these servants 
of God in pursuit of the salvation of souls ! Her heart 
was open to receive them with kindness and hospitality. 

Near the palace was an old church, erected by the Ro- 
mans in former ages, in which Bertha used to retire and 
pray in secret. In this building the missionaries preached 
their first sermon, and here it was that the work of the 
Lord began to appear in the conversion of souls. The 



THEODOLIXDA, QUEEN OF LOMBARDY. 323 

missionary labors were closely followed by Bertha's 
prayers, and neither their labors nor her prayers were in 
vain. Although at first the king was extremely cautious 
about receiving the doctrines of the gospel, yet his de- 
voted queen had the happiness to see her husband renounce 
idolatry, publicly profess the religion of Jesus, and submit 
to the ordinance of Christian babtism, while many of his 
subjects crowded to hear the word of life, many of whom 
were hopefully- brought into the Redeemer's fold. 

An ecclesiastical historian observes on this providential 
occurrence : " The King of Kent reigned fifty years, and 
died in the year 616. As a statesman, he was great ; as 
a Christian, he was greater still ; and few princes in any 
age were richer blessings to their subjects than Ethelbert 
and Bertha." 

Such was the success of Bertha's influence in favor of 
Christianity in England. Her memory will be dear to 
Christians, while her name is enrolled among the pious 
women who have been instrumental in reforming sinners 
of this wicked world. 

Theodolinda, queen of the Lombards in the sixth cen- 
tury, was a zealous orthodox Christian. The king, her 
husband, was an Arian heretic. But such was her stead- 
fast faith, and persevering endeavors to promote the cause 
of Christ, that eventually she was made the honored instru- 
ment of the hopeful conversion of Agilulfus, her husband, 
which was succeeded by a general reformation in the king- 
dom of Lombardy. 

Female influence in favor of Christianity was successfully 
exemplified in the life of Ethelburg, in the early part of 



324: ETHELBURG, A KING'S DAUGHTER. 

the seventh century. This royal lady was daughter of the 
renowned Bertha, queen of Kent, and was given in mar- 
riage to Edwin, a pagan king of the Northumbrians, in 
the north of England. Ethelburg being a woman of ortho- 
dox sentiments and exemplary piety, Edwin could not 
obtain her in marriage until he had firmly engaged to grant 
her the free liberty of conscience in the enjoyment of reli- 
gion. 

Some time after the marriage, an assassin was employed 
by the king of West Saxony to murder Edwin, and the 
attempt was made on his life on the very night that his 
first child was born. The assassin failing in his sanguinary 
enterprise, Edwin began to thank his gods for the birth of 
his little daughter, while, at the same time, Paulinus, the 
queen's minister, began to give thanks to the Lord Jesus 
for the favorable interposition of Divine Providence. The 
king's attention was arrested. His convictions were deep 
and pungent. The pious queen lost no opportunity of di- 
recting his mind to the Lord Jesus as the only Redeemer 
of men, and to the gospel word of His grace as the only 
light to guide a sinner in the way to heaven. 

Shortly after, the king renounced all his idols, and com- 
menced a serious examination of the grounds and reasons 
of Christianity. Under a full conviction that the worship 
of idols was useless, the king and his nobles, priests, and 
counsellors, all agreed to embrace Christianity together. 
They immediately destroyed their idol's temple, which 
stood on the east of the river Derwent, not far from York, 
in England, and built a church for the worship of Jesus 
Christ on the same spot. A general revival of religion 



SAROLTA, A HUNGARIAN AUTHENTICITY. 325 

brought hundreds of souls to embrace the gospel. So 
powerful was the work of God, and so anxious were the 
people to press into the kingdom of heaven, that on a cer- 
tain occasion, the king, his queen, their nobles, and Pau- 
linus, their minister, spent thirty-six days, successively, in 
teaching and exhorting from morning till night, during 
which protracted meeting many were baptized, and hope- 
fully added to the Lord. Such was the success of pious 
and devoted female influence in favor of Christianity, in a 
region hitherto overspread with the pagan darkness of the 
worship of senseless idols. 

The kingdom of Hungary, in Europe, was richly blessed 
with the dispensation and fruits of the gospel in the tenth 
century, through the instrumentality of Sarolta, the daugh- 
ter of one Gylass, a Hungarian chief, whose government 
lay on the banks of the Danube. Gylass was a pious man, 
and educated his daughter in the Christian religion. Sa- 
rolta was given in marriage to Gey sa, the chief prince of 
Hungary. She was a woman of piety and zeal for God. 
Her soul yearned over her husband, and over sinners. 
She prayed for their salvation. God heard her, and 
blessed her endeavors to promote the kingdom of Christ. 
Her husband bowed to the Saviour's scepter, and embraced 
the gospel. A general revival of religion succeeded. The 
kingdom of the Redeemer continued to prosper until the 
death of Geysa and Sarolta, and under the pious reign of 
their son Stephen, Christianity flourished till Hungary be- 
came almost entirely evangelized. 

[For the authenticity of each and every one of the fore- 
going instances of royal female influence, and the accom- 

28 



336 MILXEPw's CHTRCH HISTORY. 

panying success in promoting the cause of Christ, the reader 
is referred to Milker's Church History, on the fifth, 
sixth, seventh, and tenth centuries.] 

Thus evident is it, that in ages past, female influence has 
been greatly blessed in promoting the cause of God. And 
it is worthy of special notice, that success in many in- 
stances began to be discovered by the impressions made and 
change wrought on the minds of ungodly husbands. Well 
might an inspired apostle inquire, " What knowest thou, 
wife, whether thou shalt save thy husbai: 

The foregoing are illustrious instances of female influ- 
ence in favor of Christianity, which have been successful 
in promoting general revivals of religion. Doubtless 
there have been thousands of instances of devoted females 
in the lower walks of life, no less pious, no less anxious 
and zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of sin- 
whose instrumentality and success in the cause of the 
emer will appear conspicuous when the records of 
Heaven shall be read to an assembled universe, although 
they have been but little noticed in this wicked world. 

The success ef female influence in favor of Christianity 
within the period of the present generation, affords addi- 
tional and incontestable evidence of its importance. The 
nineteenth century has opened upon the world a new and 
unparalleled era of Christian effort for the dissemination 
of gospel truth, and the consequent advancement of the 
remers kingdom in the salvation of souls. The light 
:ernity only can reveal how great a proportion of this 
good work of the Lord has been the result of female in- 
strumentality. That their private instructions, prayers, 



THE GREAT SECRET EXPLAINED. 327 

alms, and holy walk with God, have been instrumental in 
doing much to promote the cause of Zion, must be evident 
to every person whose eyes and ears have been open to 
the records of the progress of Christianity since the com- 
mencement of the present century. Many of the daugh- 
ters of the church have devoted much of their time, their 
influence, their treasures of silver and gold, the product of 
their hand labor, and, what is best of all, their fervent pray- 
ers, for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus, and for 
the extension of the kingdom of grace in the salvation of 
perishing sinners. Unwearied in well-doing, and invinci- 
ble to the various impediments thrown in their way by 
the stratagems of powers in opposition, they have kept on 
their march toward victory over sin, and a crown of life, 
carrying along with them a host of captives to the obe- 
dience of Christ and the gospel, extending, as they advance, 
their desires, and pray ess, and exertions, for the holy bless- 
ings of millennial glory. 

Under the superintendence of Divine Providence, and 
wielded by the hand of Omnipotence, female influence has 
proved itself to be a mighty engine to pull down and 
break in pieces the powers of darkness. Thousands of 
wicked men are converted to God through the instru- 
mentality of their pious, devoted wives. Thousands of 
children are converted to God through the instrumentality 
of, and in answer to, their mothers' prayers. Here lies 
the great secret, which secures success to female influence 
in promoting the glory of God in the salvation of sinners. 
A pious mother prays for her infant son, consecrates him 
to the Lord in the holy exercise of faith in Christ Jesus, 



328 MOTHERS CAN TESTIFY. 

4 

sings the hymn of the Saviour's love to him as she rocks 
his cradle, tells the little boy the story of the cross of Cal- 
vary as soon as the tender mind is capable of understand- 
ing that Jesus died for sinners; and what is the conse- 
quence] Ask the mother of the celebrated John Newton, 
what was the result of her influence in the pious education 
of her little son ? And, if her glorified spirit should be 
permitted to answer, would it not be something like the 
following : " My son, after a course of wickedness, be- 
thought himself of his mother's anxiety and prayers for his 
salvation. The recollection broke his heart. He prayed 
for himself, turned to the Lord, devoted his life to the 
preaching of the cross of Christ, became the honored 
instrument of turning many to righteousness, and is 
now rejoicing with them in glory around the throne of 
God." 

Ask the mother of the ever-memorable Samuel J. Mills, 
what was the consequence of her influence and faithfulness 
in training up her child for the Lord ? Ask her the result 
of that solemn appeal to his youthful conscience on the 
subject of his soul's salvation, when in the skepticism of 
his collegiate vanity, he answered, " Dear mother, I have 
sometimes wished I had no soul !" And when with a full 
heart, yearning over him, she replied, " My son, you have 
got a soul that must be saved or lost to all eternity, and 
now is the time to seek its salvation." O ask her, What 
was the result of this address? Her humble answer 
doubtless would be : " I had the happiness of witnessing my 
son's hopeful conversion to the Lord, and his solemn con- 
secration to the work of the holy ministry of the Gospe] 



MANY WHEELS IN MOTION. 329 

of Jesus my Saviour.' ' And to complete the answer, would 
not a voice be heard from Asia, from Africa, and from 
many an island of moral desolation, testifying, that through 
his instrumentality in the organization of the Foreign 
Missionary Society, millions of heathen, delivered from 
destruction and raised to glory, would rise up and call her 
blessed, whose influence had been so successfully exerted 
for their salvation ? 

Every pious wife who is instrumental in her husband's 
salvation, and every devoted mother who has trained up a 
child for the service of the Lord, exerts an influence in this 
wicked world which will aid in peopling heaven with the 
glorified spirits of the redeemed. 

Behold, now, how many wheels are in motion in the 
great machinery of grace, through the instrumentality of 
pious females, whose influence is destined to go forward, in 
geometrical progression, till from the rising to the setting 
sun, the Saviour's name shall be adored ! With the ad- 
vancement of Zion in view, how many hundreds of male 
infants have been thus devoted to the Lord by their pray- 
ing mothers, in the same faith that Hannah of old lent her 
little Samuel to the Lord ! In answer to the prayers, and 
through the instrumentality of female exertion, how many 
such devoted children have been made the hopeful subjects 
of divine grace ; have been educated for the holy ministry ; 
and when furnished for the work, have ascended the sacred 
walls of Zion, to blow the gospel trumpet, and call guilty 
sinners to prepare to meet their God ! Through the in- 
strumentality of female influence, and female benevolence, 
how many hundreds of ministers of the Gospel have been 



330 MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 

constituted members of Bible, Missionary, Tract, Sabbath 
School Union, and various other benevolent societies, all of 
which have one great object in view — the advancement 
of the Redeemer's kingdom ! 

Doubtless, the city of New York is annually reaping 
the fruits of the pious influence of Mrs. Isabella Graham, 
whose love to God and benevolence to mankind were emi- 
nently exemplified in a life devoted to the cause of the 
Redeemer, and whose memory is imperishably embalmed 
in the affections of the Christian community in general. 
O how many redeemed souls will bless God on earth, and 
in heaven, that she ever lived to exert an instrumental in- 
fluence for their salvation ! 

When a pious young female of Xew England, but little 
known in the world, was impelled, by love for the souls 
of perishing heathen, to bid adieu to parents, friends, and 
country, in 1812, to stem the surges of vast oceans, on her 
way to an apparently premature grave, on the Isle of 
France, who could have thought or calculated that much 
weight of female influence in favor of Christianity would 
result from such an unpropitious, disastrous, and appa- 
rently unsuccessful mission 1 But the good evidently de- 
signed to be brought to pass by her influence, was not to 
be effected by her long and useful life, but by the circum- 
stances of her early death. The memoir of Mrs. Harriet 
Newell has probably resulted in a greater degree of influ- 
ence in favor of the cause of missions, and of Christianity 
in the world, than would have been effected had she lived 
a hundred years, and been useful to the end of life in doing 
good to all within the circle of her acquaintance. 



EXCELLENCE OF TRUE RELIGION. 331 

From such an assemblage of testimony to prove the ex- 
tent of female influence, and its success and happy results 
when exerted in favor of -true religion, how great must be 
the conviction, that the whole weight of female influence 
in the world is required to aid in carrying forward this in- 
finitely important cause. True religion is the worship of 
the true God, and is infinitely superior to all earthly ob- 
jects. It is the " one thing needful," the pearl of great 
price, compared to which, all else is vanity. 

The superlative excellence of true religion exceeds all 
description. For substance, its foundation is the love of 
God, exemplified in Christ crucified for a lost world ; and 
its superstructure is the church of redeemed souls, includ- 
ing all of Adam's race who will finally be saved. True 
religion, doctrinally, comprises all that God has revealed to 
man. Practically, it is the faithful performance of all the 
Divine requirements. And in effect, it is the display of the 
Divine glory in the salvation of sinners by the grace of 
the Gospel, that the seats in heaven which became vacant 
by the fall of sinning angels, might be filled with blood- 
bought, blood- washed souls of Adam's fallen race, each of 
whom will forever be able to sing the experimental power 
of redeeming love, in a higher note of praise to God than 
apostate angels could have raised, had they retained their 
primitive state of innocence. 

True religion is, hence, every thing that mortals can 
rationally desire. It makes the poor rich, and the rich 
humble and benevolent. It constitutes the sum total of 
happiness on earth, and comprehends the only sure prepar- 
ation for the joys of Heaven. To possess it, is life eternal. 



332 FEMALE TALENT KEQUERED FOE USE. 

To be destitute of it, leads to fearful, inevitable, and eter- 
nal destruction. 

If such is the nature of true religion, and such its final 
results on the future destinies of mankind, surely, of all 
causes, it is the most important, and demands aid from all 
who have a talent committed to them for improvement. 
Divine grace is a system of means. The conversion of 
sinners by the Holy Ghost is effected principally through 
the instrumentality of subordinate agents. God requires 
the occupancy of every talent in the promotion of His 
cause. 

Females possess the talent of influence, extensive in- 
fluence, and God requires them to exert it for His glory in 
the salvation of sinners. ■ To preach the gospel He never 
called them. To them He never delegated the power of 
government in the church. But the mighty power of in- 
fluence which they possess is the gift of His Spirit, and His 
claims on its occupancy for the salvation of a lost world 
are infinitely imperative. Souls are of unspeakable value. 
"The world lies in wickedness." Impenitent sinners are 
under sentence of endless death, and are fast sinking into 
eternal ruin. The broad way to destruction is crowded, 
with travelers. Lost souls, in a constant tide of emigra- 
tion, are pouring into the lake of unquenchable fire. And 
every one who is instrumental in saving a soul from death 
will secure a gem of celestial brilliancy in a crown of un- 
fading glory. With such considerations in view, what 
female in this assembly can refrain from the resolution, 
I ic ill now yield up my heart to Goch to live entirely devoted 
to His service, and all the influence I possess I cheerfully con- 



A PAINFUL REMARK. 333 

seer ate to the promotion of His blessed religion ? May Heaven 
be opened, the Holy Spirit descend and move you, this 
moment, to the adoption of a resolution which has peace 
on earth and everlasting glory for its reward beyond the 
grave ! 

It is painful to remark, and would be omitted, did not 
the importance of this subject demand the unpleasing ob- 
servation. How useless, and worse than vain, is the life 
of those giddy females who seek to know nothing, and do 
nothing, but to decorate their frail bodies, which are des- 
tined shortly to become food for worms in the grave ; or 
to gratify their appetite for food and pleasure ; or to waste 
away the golden hours of life in the pursuit of amusements, 
and anticipations of enjoyments which many never live to 
realize, and which, if obtained, can never render them wise, 
nor happy, nor useful, nor blessed ! O'how much better 
is it, to arise from such insignificant pursuits, to put on the 
armor of righteousness, and consecrate heart, and influence, 
and possessions, and life, to the great work of evangelizing 
the world ! This is a pursuit worthy of rational beings, 
and its results are of infinite importance. 

Finally. This subject shows the importance of caution, 
fortitude, and perseverance, in the exercise of devout female 
influence. 

Pious females are cautioned in forming matrimonial con- 
nexions, to make it a subject of special prayer to God, that 
their allotment in life may be identified with religious com- 
panions, whose combined influence may sweeten the path 
•way to the grave with peaceful and united devotion. 

Pious married ladies, whose husbands are in a state of 



33^: DIEECTIOXS FOR PIOUS FEMALES. 

opposition to God, are taught the indispensable duties of 
fortitude and perseverance in the exercise of all their pow- 
ers of influence for the salvation of their partners in life. 
In view of the embarrassments and opposition which others 
by fortitude and persevering grace have overcome, let them 
be encouraged to put their trust in the Lord, and wait in 
the patient use of means for the blessed results of their 
influence in winning their husbands to Christ. If the hus- 
bands are neglecters of the Christian religion, let the wives 
treat them kindly, and pray for their conversion to God. 
If the husbands are infidels, let the wives treat them kindly, 
and pray that the light of Divine truth may dissipate the 
darkness of their skepticism, and lead them to Jesus for 
mercy. If the husbands are immoral ists, unholy, profane, 
intemperate, haters of godliness, and workers of all in- 
iquity, still let the broken hearts of the pious wives be 
poured out to God for them in prayer. Such are the best 
means of winning them to Christ. And in the use of such 
means may it not be asked, " What knowest thou, O wife, 
whether thou shalt save thy husband 1 ?" 

Take courage, then, ye daughters of Zion, and go for- 
ward in the great work of winning souls to Jesus Christ. 
Eaise your desires to God for grace to enable you to ac- 
complish great things for His glory, and things as large as 
your desires will be done to promote the interest of the 
Redeemer's kingdom. Although you are not commissioned 
to the office of watchmen on the walls of Zion, yet God 
has assigned to you a work of importance, and He requires 
you to do it. This is to exert your influence prudently, 
courageously, and perseveringly in favor of the cause of 



SCRIPTUPwAL ESTIMATION OF VIRTUE. 335 

Christ. The influence, the blessed influence of your pious 
lives, your fervent prayers, your holy conversation, your 
steadfast adherence to the word and worship of God, carries 
in it a savor well pleasing to the Almighty, and by the 
power of His grace is constituted a mighty engine of Chris- 
tian warfare, to bear down upon the principalities and pow 
ers of darkness, and diffuse the light of life to a perishing 
world. Here a field opens for your usefulness sufficiently 
extensive to give full scope to the exertions of all your in- 
fluential powers. To devote your children to God, to train 
up your sons for service at the sacred altar, or for pillars 
in the Church ; to teach your daughters the happy art of 
exerting their influence in favor of Christianity by devoting 
themselves to God; to hold up the hands and encourage 
the hearts of God's ministers by your holy examples, your 
alms and your prayers ; and to diffuse a savor of holiness 
in all your intercourse with society, is a labor of love which 
it is your duty and privilege to perform, and be assured of 
this, that " such labor will not be in vain in the Lord." 

A SCRIPTURAL ESTIMATION OF PIOUS FEMALE INFLUENCE. 

Reminiscences selected. 

" Who can find a virtuous woman 1 Her price is far 
above rubies. Strength and honor are her clothing ; and 
she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth 
with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. A 
woman that feareth the Lord shall be praised. Give her 
of the fruit of her hands ; and let her own works praise her 
in the gates." (See Prov. xxxi. 10, 25, 26, 30, 31.) 



336 the widow's morsel of meal. 

A virtuous woman once gave a small cake and a little 
water in a vessel to a prophet of the Lord when he 
hungered ; and the God of Israel preserved her morsel of 
meal in a barrel and oil in her cruse from diminution by 
constant use for herself, her son. and the prophet, during a 
famine of two full years of dearth in the land. (1 Kings 
xvii. and xviii.) 

Mary sat at the feet of her Saviour to hear His divine 
instruction, and there received His gracious assurance, that 
she had ;> chosen that good part which shall not be taken 
away from her. (Luke x. 39—47.) 

A woman also washed the feet of Jesus with tears, and 
did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his 
feet, and anointed them with ointment. And he said unto 
her. ; - Thy sins are forgiven; thy faith hath saved thee ; 
go in peace." (See Luke vii. 36-50.) 

Another woman poured an alabaster box of very pre- 
cious ointment on the head of Jesus as he sat at meat in 
the house of Simon the leper, in the village of Bethany ; 
and the benediction pronounced upon her by her Saviour 
was in the following words : <; She hath poured this 
ointment on my body for rny burial. Verily I say 
unto yon, Wheresoever this gospel is preached in the 
whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath 
done, be told for a memorial of her." (See Matt. xxvi. 
6-13.) 

The above are historical notices of virtuous womex. 
The Scriptural import of their intrinsic value is a " price 
as far above rubies" [" gems of the most brilliant scarlet, 
some of which are even richer than diamonds''] as the 



TESTIMONIALS OF MORAL WORTH. 337 

price of a human soul is above the valuation of the material 
world full of silver and gold. (See Matt. xvi. 26.) 

In conformity with the Divine injunction, " Render to 
all their dues ; tribute, to whom tribute ; honor to whom 
honor is due ;" it may with propriety be remarked, that 
a recent instance of singular female influence has sur- 
passed any thing of the kind known to have existed in 
Christendom. Allusion is had to a female who but a short 
time since was known to fame out of the land of her 
nativity in the North of Europe. But, like other " signs 
of the times," in this age of wonders, the trumpet of pub- 
lic fame, with the telegraphic velocity of lightning speed, 
has spread her veritable name over Europe, America, and 
the world, as a lady possessing unrivaled powers of vocal 
music, abundantly competent to arouse all the hearing 
powers and sensations of lovers of harmony into a state 
of the most rapturous excitement of delightful satisfaction. 

And, what is still more important, in the wide-spread 
promulgation of her fame, are the accompanying testimo- 
nials of her virtuous principles, chaste deportment, and 
benevolent disposition. The testimony of her virtues is 
written, not merely on "water" by the pen or tongue of 
the invidious flatterer, but it is written by her own indeli- 
ble, voluntary, and judicious benefactions in the distribution 
of a vast proportion of the avails of her income for the 
promotion of public institutions and most worthy deeds 
of charity. Such testimonials of moral worth and charac- 
ter, originating from philanthropic principles, will doubt- 
less be found recorded in the annals of the Divine history 
of benevolence, where it will also be found that "a cup of 

29 



33 S AUTHOR OF A CERTIFICATE. 

cold water" given to a disciple in the name of a disciple, 
as a deed of charity from pure motives, will not fail of a 
Divine reward. 

Hence, as a practical improvement of the foregoing 
illustration of principles by the testimony of facts, I, 
Lebbeus Armstrong, a native of Westchester County, in 
the State of New York ; son of a soldier of the American 
Revolution ; congregational minister of the gospel, and the 
»t member of the ;i Congregational Association of New 
York and Brooklyn." being in the seventy-seventh year of 
my age. forty-ninth of my ministry, and forty-fourth of my 
pledged membership for the promotion of the cause of 
temperance in the various epochs of its progress from its 
commencement, to the pledge of ;i total abstinence from 
all intoxicating liquors" — being one of the forty-three 
whose written on the records of the Tem- 

perance Society of Moreau and Northumberland, in the 
county of Saratoga, which was organized on the last 
Tuesday of April, A.D. 1806 ; and by the appointment 
of the President delivered the first Temperance Address 
'-: that : i ganiz^d body on their first quarterly meeting 
in a country school-house in Moreau ; and who was then, 
{.::/:. -<r:'.\ am, an admirer of the science and performance 
oth vocal and instrumental music, do now, therefore, 
by these presents take pleasure in presenting these public 
Imoniab of most respectful regard to Md'lle Jenny 
Lind, the celebrated European songstress, now a visitant 
::a. 

Being well satisfied that her musical powers are not 
overrated by the eclat of public fame, the following salu- 



ACROSTIC FOR MISS LLND. 339 

tatary address, in acrostic form, governed by the initials 
which comprise both her title of respect and proper name 
— founded on sentiments of due esteem for original genius, 
scientific acquirements, and extensive practical improve- 
ment by the most laudable promulgation of a special gift 
of Divine Providence in the scientific powers of both vocal 
and instrumental music, is hereby presented, and accom- 
panied with the most sincere wishes and prayers for her 
temporal prosperity, and more especially for her future 
and immortal interest. 

In accordance, therefore, with the foregoing preliminaries, 
I would say respectfully, Please, madam, accept of the as- 
surance of the above sentiments, and may you profit ever- 
lastingly by adherence to the doctrines and duties com- 
prised and inculcated in the following 

. ACROSTICAL ADDRESS ON VOCAL MUSIC. 
Mistress of Vocal Harmony, fam'd stranger in this land;* 
Desirous of your happiness, these lines are for your hand. 
Lo ! all your powers of melody, your Maker gave to thee — 
Let all the music of your breath to Him devoted be. 

Earth is his footstool, heav'n is his throne, angels his subjects are, 
Jehovah is his name, supreme, his word, his works declare; 
Each world, each creature, and each thing throughout immensity — 
Not one escapes from his control — He rules their destiny. 

Next, Songstress,blest with tuneful voice, your Maker's praise repeat, 

Yield to the Holy Spirit's power, and worship at his feet. 

Laud Him who died to save your soul from everlasting death : 

In Him is life and endless joy. praise Him with your breath. 

Now, stranger, welcome to this land. May all who hear you bring 

Due tribute to your hand, and own that God form'd you to sing ! 

* This Acrostic was written soon after the commencement of Miss Lind's first 
performances in New York. 



340 A COMPLIMENT FOR MR. BARNTJM. 

Yea, I would further say, May divine grace prepare you 
to sing hallelujahs m Heaven, is the most fervent prayer 
of him who commits to your hand and keeping this me- 
morial of first acquaintance. 

I would also congratulate Mr. Barnum for the success of 
his exertions in procuring so distinguished a visitant to the 
United States of America. May he be richly rewarded 
for all the good that may result from his philanthropic 
efforts for the promotion of scientific harmony. 

Moreover, 1 would esteem it a privilege to be permitted to 
address ! o any one of the numerous audiences of the Empire 
City of New York, the following Acrostical Ode on the Union 
of Vocal and Instrumental Music, founded on a contrast of 
past and present times — the origin of all scientific powers 
of symphony — the superlative harmony of the planetary 
orbs as visible tokens of heaven, the metropolis of eternal 
glory — and the divinely foretold concord of a future Mil- 
lenium on this globe of earth, when it shall have been puri- 
fied from the contagion of sin, by the imprisonment of the 
old serpr.t. the tempter of Eve, and the destroyer of her 
children, in every age and nation of mankind. 

It will be perceived that the acrostical form of the Ode 
comprises the initials of the names of the owner, lessee 
principal performer of scientific melody, and assumed ap- 
pellation of the celebrated hall where most of her perform- 
ances have been made, thus — " Tripler's and Barnum's 
American Md'lle Jenny Lind Musical Metropolitan 
Hall of Scientific Harmony." 



SENTIMENTAL ODE. 34:1 

ODE 03" SCIENTIFIC HARMONY. 

Time was when savage men possessed this land, 

Raising the war-whoop, tomahawk in hand ! 

In those dark ages all was wilderness, 

Prowl'd o'er with beasts of prey from East to West. 

Lo ! what a change Time now presents us here ! 
Each of these thousands has a listening ear, 
Refined with taste for music's charm this night, 
Sung, play'd on instruments — each gives delight. 

And may we not with pleasure cherish thought ? 
No harmony exists but what God taught : 
Divinely sweet, from heaven the Art was brought. 

Brightest and best of scientific powers 
Are sounds melodious, charming to the ear, 
Repulsive to dread thoughts of gloomy hours, 
Nor less exciting to sweet, heartfelt cheer. 

Union of sounds excites to peace and love, 
Most joyful to a contemplative mind ; 
Such as harmonious rolling orbs above 
Afford, by order, light, and form combin'd. 

Music, bless'd science of concordant sounds, 
(Each full of melody, delightful, sweet), 
Rarely exists on earth's defective grounds, 
In such perfection that no discords meet. 

Concerts of vocal and mix'd harmony, 
Amid sweet, well-play'd instrumental sounds, 
Need nothing to complete the melody, 
Most cheering always to the utmost bounds. 

Delightful theme, Coxcord remains untold ! 

Lo! in creation's globes, dazzling in air, 

Let " Order, God's First Law," His works unfold, 

Each sphere in harmony is govern'd there ! 



342 music m perfection. 

Jehovah's palace royal deck'd with Love, 
Eternal concord through all heaven displays. 
Notes, pure as angel voices, sound above, 
Now, to our God be everlasting praise ! 

Yea, earth, too, though denied with sin and shame, 
Long brooding over discord, strife, and blood ! 
In time foretold, will chant Jehovah's name, 
New songs, perpetual, will arise to God. 

Discord on earth will then be known no more ; 
Mount Zion's sons and daughters, all will sing 
Union of Heaven and Earth, like Eden's yore, 
Sweet notes of concord o'er the earth will ring. 

In that bless'd day Gentile and Jew will join, 
Concordant notes of melody to raise ; 
And old and young, and rich and poor, combine 
Love's power to celebrate in perfect lays 

Music in sweet perfection then will fill 

Each scientific ear with pure delight ; 

Then joyous songs, resembling heaven, will still 

Redemption's glories show forth, day and night 

On each millennial day the sun will rise, 
(Prince of the planetary worlds, bright Sun !) 
Only to bless all souls below the skies, 
Loving, and lov'd, as each bless'd day shall run. 

In all the earth Music's sweet strains will roll, 
To cheer the heart, and raise the thoughts above ; 
And earth will be like Heaven, from pole to poje — 
No more the Orb of hatred, but of LOVE ! 

Here in this Hall, perhaps, when we are dead, 
A numerous choir will chant superior strains, 
Lauding the name of Christ, their Living Head, 
Lord over conquered Death triumphant reigns ! 



HEARTFELT CONTRAST. 34:3 

Oh, what a contrast this with days of yore ! 
Free now, we sing or hear, write, print, or pray. 
Salvation's banners once the Caesars tore, 
Converting earth to gross idolatry ! 

In those dread days the Amphitheatre, 
Each sportive hour, was filled with lookers on, 
(Numerous, thrice told, as those assembled here,) 
To see wild beasts devour God's saints anon ! 

In this, our day, we fear no Caesar's power : 
Freedom's blest songs we sing or hear with joy. 
In concert, or at home, each passing hour 
Calls us in Freedom's labor to employ. 

Heaven will shortly be the endless home : 

All friends of holy harmony will gain 

Rest for their souls in that bright world to come, 

Messiah purchased with his blood and pain. 

Oh, now He offers us a seat above ! 

No price He asks except our fervent love ! 

Yielding, His blessedness we soon may prove. 

With sentiments of congratulation, 
The foregoing compliments are hereby 

Most humbly inscribed by the 

Author. 

The following testimonials of female moral worth are 
selected from various authentic sources : 

" UNPARALLELED GENEROSITY. 

" A Stockholm paper says that Jenny Lind has sent to 
that city twenty thousand dollars, to be distributed 
among the poor." — New Orleans Crescent. 



344 EXAMPLE FOR SABBATH-BREAKEE8. 

The following appears in the same paper : 

" OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 

" This is equal to fifty sermons — it is a practical fact : 
Arrangements had been made for her concerts at Natchez 
and Memphis, based on her departure from here on Satur- 
day. The boat, however, was delayed. There was yet 
time to keep the appointments, and leave on Sabbath 
morning. This she at once refused to do, and refused to 
hold any conversation in regard to the pecuniary loss. 
Miss Lind is entitled to the thanks of all religious persons 
for this strict observance of the commandment, 'Remem- 
ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 5 " — New Orleans 
Crescent 

[It is regretted that the date of the above New Or- 
leans paper was omitted in the above transcript by the 
author of these reminiscences. But thus much is averred, 
that the foregoing related facts were read and transcribed 
from authority as above stated, soon after the time that 
Miss Lind left New Orleans the year past. And also, that 
the object of the said transcript was a more permanent pres- 
ervation and further promulgation of such praiseworthy 
examples in this boasted t; Age of Reason" when the Holy 
Bible, and its laws and doctrines, religion and ordinances, 
rewards and punishments, are deemed by millions of self- 
wise philosophers as invalid infringements on the natural 
rights and liberties of all such as acknowledge no allegiance 
to such a God as the Bible describes.] 

The following is copied from the " Puritan Recorder" 
dated May 29th, 1851 : 



LEADER OF THE CHOIR. 345 

" JENNY LIND AND THE HEAVENLY CHOIR. 

" A friend of ours reports to us the following fact, for 
the authority of which he gives a sufficient voucher. His 
brother, after hearing Jenny Lind sing lately at Castle Gar- 
den, came out of the Garden a short distance behind another 
gentleman, who w^as plain in his appearance and dress, and 
in quite a thoughtful mood. He spoke respectfully to 
him, and said, f Well, sir, what do you think of Jenny V 
' Why, I think if she gets to Heaven, she will be leader 
of the choir.' This, we think, is the highest compliment 
that we have ever known paid to her." 

IN CONCLUSION. 

I. May virtuous women be multiplied, and found in 
every house throughout our land and world. Then 
will husbands be blessed with good wives — children will 
be trained up in " the way they should go" — home, uni- 
versally, to each individual, will be the most delightful 
spot on earth — and, if the cause of Temperance prevails 
over the desolating curse of Intemperance, by the wise 
enactments of temperance legislators, after the ever-memo- 
rable example of the sister State of Maine, this planet on 
w r hich virtuous women dwell will become a sober world. 
Then the curse of drunkenness will be banished into the 
darkness of oblivion. Then the desolating trade of war 
will lose its mainspring of existence, and be banished from 
all existing nations of the earth. Then the pursuit of arts 
and sciences, moderate labor, and uniformity of happiness 
in the enjoyment of trusting in the Lord and doing good, 
whether at home or abroad, in city or country, on land or 



346 EXAMPLE WORTHY OF IMITATION. 

ocean, will fill up the term of each of the six days in the 
week divinely appointed for the secular business of life. 
And then will each holy Sabbath of the Lord be as con- 
scientiously and scrupulously observed by all lovers of 
holy time as was the Lord's blessed day observed by the 
ever-to-be-imitated Songstress at the city of New Orleans, 
who turned a deaf ear to all pecuniary motives to persuade 
her to violate the sanctity of one holy Sabbath, though 
thousands of dollars to her temporal advantage were pend- 
ing that moment on her decision, to be gained if she dese- 
crated the Sabbath, or lost if she observed the divine 
commandment, to " Remember the Sabbath day, and 
keep it holy." May this lesson of virtuous example never 
be forgotten by succeeding generations of the earth 

II. May all virtuous women, in this and all other nations 
of the earth, consider it to be their indispensable duty to 
subscribe the total abstinence temperance pledge, after 
the example of thousands and tens of thousands of Daugh- 
ters of Temperance, of various appellations, under various 
banners, whose names are now enrolled on the pledge for 
the security of honor and safety, happiness and prosperity, 
in the promotion of universal temperance in this world of 
sin. 

It is a lamentable fact, that there are many respectable 
persons throughout Christendom, both male and female, 
who profess to wish well to the cause of temperance, and 
still, for reasons expressed, or concealed in their own mind, 
have never subscribed their names to a temperance pledge, 
though often most respectfully and affectionately invited 
so to do. The reasons which are generally offered in vin- 



PALPABLE ABSURDITIES. 347 

dication of non-compliance with this all-important temper- 
ance seal of a covenant which binds the whole temperance 
fraternity in one common bond of brotherhood and sister- 
hood affection, on the only platform of safety from the ac- 
cursed practice of liquor drinking and drunkenness in this 
world of iniquity, are in amount of justification as follows : 
We can be temperate without signing a pledge to be so. 
And if we sign no pledge, then, surely, we shall break no 
pledge if we find it to be absolutely needful for our health 
and comfort to drink intoxicating liquors temperately. 

To prove the fallacy and danger of such a substitute for 
a good temperance character and standing during an exter- 
minating war with the power of intemperance, let the 
following parallel cases of palpable absurdity be duly con- 
sidered. Suppose a contract is made between male and 
female parties for the companionship of husband and wife 
during their earthly existence. The marriage covenant is here 
approved and agreed upon ; but the pledge of their agree- 
ment by a public ceremony of joining hands, and promis- 
ing fidelity to each other, before legal authority, is consid- 
ered by them both, to be unnecessary, for two reasons — one 
is, that they can keep and observe the conditions of their 
private agreement as well without public ceremony as with 
it, and hence the trouble, expense, and blushing perturba- 
tions of a wedding are not only needless, but honorably 
dispensable. The other reason is, that if, at any subse- 
quent period, one or both of the parties should become 
sick of their original contract, their marriage legal cere- 
mony would be a bar to their united agreement to sepa- 
rate, or to their separation if but one of the parties wished 



348 A NOTE WITHOUT AN ENDORSEE. 

a release without legal reasons for such separation. The 
amount of such a vague union would be, that if no law 
bound them together, no law would be broken if they 
separated at the wish of one of the parties, whatever dam- 
age the other party might sustain. The absurdity of such 
an agreement, without any pledge to bind the parties to a 
fulfillment of stipulated terms, must be evident at first 
sight. By such an evasion of Divine law, children would 
be illegitimate, and could never obtain the right of lawful 
heirship to parental inheritance ; nor the mother, female 
party thus left at the death of a rich illegal paramour, 
could never obtain a legal widow's dower, for no legal mar- 
riage in such case could ever be proved. 

And this is but an instance among many absurdities 
that might be named of parallel import with that of refus- 
ing to sign the temperance pledge. All contracts for 
money, goods, chattels, or agreements for any services, bar- 
gains, agencies, or conditions whatsoever, in the whole 
system of human transactions of dealing man with man, 
can be conducted with any degree of safety short of a 
pledge of legal note of hand, or other legal security which 
can be made to appear in witness to sustain the right of an 
honest claim. For want of such a pledge, all the business 
of life would be thrown into utter confusion, which no law 
nor equity could ever control in a manner to secure pros- 
perity in any department of the regular business of human 
life. And no less disastrous to the prosperity of the tem- 
perance cause would be the vague, foundationless plan of 
procedure without a temperance pledge of total abstinence 
from the use of all intoxicating liquors. 



INDELIBLE MEMORIALS. 349 

Hence, we see the importance of the temperance pledge, 
and the futility of all objections to the absolute necessity 
of its existence as the indispensable bond of temperance 
union and prosperity, without which, no one can give evi- 
dence of true friendship to the temperance cause. On the 
correctness of such principles, we express the earnest wish 
that not only tens of thousands, but that many millions of 
devoted females now living, and those of unborn ages and 
generations yet to come, may be inclined to add their 
names to the pledge of total abstinence from all intoxicat- 
ing liquors. Ladies of the present generation, do all in 
your power of influence, both by precept and example, to 
persuade all the members of your respective households, 
from oldest to youngest, who are capable of understanding 
and performing the duty, to sign the temperance pledge in 
the Family Bible, neatly prepared and written, to be pre- 
served as memorials for generations following, when the 
subscribers to the pledge shall be dead and gone. 

Parents, mothers, and all who may be mothers of the 
next generation, pause, and reflect for a moment on the 
importance of a single act of your life, which may be 
performed in one minute, and be a lasting memorial and 
example worthy of imitation, and be joyfully followed by 
thousands yet unborn, who may see your names to the 
temperance pledge of the nineteenth century, once written 
by your hands in the Holy Bibles which you now delight 
to read ; the property of your lawful heirs when you die, 
and left in their hands for their perusal and guide in wis- 
dom's pathway of duty and the way to heaven and glory, 
when you are dead and gone, to find your peaceful and 

30 



350 KEADER3 OF THE TEMPEKA3TCE PLEDGE ! 

eternal home in the place prepared for you in the mansion- 
house of God, the Father's kingdom of glory. O think 
for a moment -what joy it will give you in the eternal 
world of glory, to look down from the celestial abodes of 
angels and the spirits of the just of Adam's lost race, 
made perfect in glory through the grace of the gospel of 
the Lord Jesus, and there witness the improvement and 
use that may be made by your offspring on this earth in 
hundreds round their firesides, with your old Bibles open 
before them, reading your names once signed by your own 
hands in your much-loved Bibles, while thousands of other 
Bibles, the property of your offspring on earth, have their 
names written to pledges of total abstinence after your 
example, to go into the hands and possession of their 
heirs ; and thus onward in succession, after the example of 
ancestors, while time shall last, and be lost in eternity. 

O that every female in our land and world, from the 
queen on the throne of national power, to the housewives 
and daughters of farmers, mechanics, manufacturers, mer- 
chants, and professionalists of every rank of useful business 
of life, would sign the temperance pledge of total absti- 
nence from all intoxicating liquors, and thus give example 
and influence to the promotion of the Temperance Reforma- 
tion, which is providentially transforming this generation 
of human beings into a sober, industrious, prosperous, 
and happy world, as soon as intemperance, and all anti- 
Christian principles, influence, and practices shall be purged 
out of it, and the predicted reign of the Glorified Re- 
deemer shall extend from the rising to the setting sun, un- 
molested by the influence of any adversary. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Effects of the Power of Divine Provide:stial Moeal Suasion, in one Neighbor- 
hood, by the Reformation of some Hard Drinkers and Drunkards, and the sudden 
and alarming Death of several other incorrigible Drunkards, personally known 
to the Author, who witnessed the remarkable Eesults recorded in this Chapter of 
Ihe Powee of Peoyidential Moeal Suasion in faYor of Temperance Reform. 

PROVIDENTIAL MORAL SUASION. 

In one of the counties of the State of New York, there 
is a neighborhood which comprises a portion of three 
towns. Its settlement commenced some years before the 
war of the American Revolution, by emigrants, principally 
from some of the New England States, some of the lower 
counties of the State of New York, and various other 
places after the Revolution, comprising a community, in 
the new settlement, of such families generally as had been 
accustomed to the enjoyment of religious privileges. Con- 
sequently, soon after the peace of the Revolution, they 
organized into a religious congregation of church and 
society ; unitedly erected a house of worship, settled a 
faithful and much-loved gospel minister, and for a series 
of years enjoyed union, peace, and prosperity in attend- 
ance on the ordinances of religious worship. 

But an adversary was permitted to mark them out for a 
prey. The whole society was without a village ; a neigh- 
borhood of plain country farmers and mechanics, scattered 
over ar area of from two to three miles distance, in every 



352 ASSATLT OF AN ENEMY. 

point of compass, from their central house of worship. 
The approach of a sly, artful, sagacious enemy first ap- 
peared, in a spirit of emulation, to fi]l the whole neighbor- 
hood with commodious places for social amusements in the 
unmolested enjoyment of country taverns and every-day 
beverages, for the morning, noon, and evening fireside dram, 
to cheer up the spirits of both old and young. 

Before a temperance society was organized in the world, 
or one known to exist, the neighborhood above described 
was satanieally enriched with ten taverns — several liquor- 
selling stores, to recommend the petty sale of dry goods, 
together with a variety of cider-mills, a number of rum- 
loving fiddlers, who depended much on their art for a live- 
lihood, to accomplish which, they had only to keep or live 
near to a tavern, and be ready, almost every evening, to 
rosin the bow, strike up the music, and a company of 
drinkers and dancers would soon be in attendance, to grace 
the enchanted rooms, which, not unfrequently, would be 
enlivened with whole royal families of kings, queens, 
Jacks, and their deuces, to aid in passing away the jovial 
hours of life in dram-drinking, time-spending amusements, 
and gambling for intoxicating beverages, or for money, to 
pay for the good staff to create happiness. 

The next step of the sagacious enemy was to raise up 
fault-finders and remonstrancers against the lovely and 
faithful minister, until he was dismissed, and removed from 
his charge ; the house of public worship was sold at public 
auction, to pay trumped accounts claimed by some dis- 
affected builders, and was bid off, and secured by others 
from beinsf converted into even a farmer's barn. The 



THE SPIRIT OF WAE. 353 

Church, after long and painful struggles, was disbanded, 
and scattered among surrounding denominations of other 
neighboring congregations ; and thus, the social religious 
inclosures of the former original society claims and privi- 
leges were demolished, and the whole area of the neigh- 
borhood was considered as common ground for whomsoever 
might become so powerful and successful as to usurp, take 
possession, and occupy it at their pleasure. 

Such was the state of that neighborhood at the time 
when the Madisonian war of 1812 was declared, and our 
whole country was electrified with the animating prospect 
of the conquest of the Canadas, the universal triumph of 
Napoleon usurpations ; French politics, and natural reli- 
gion, under the specious denomination of " halsion illu- 
mtnism," a wonderful appellation, indeed, but signifying 
nothing essentially different from Thomas Paine' s " Com- 
mon Sense Age of Reason" — amounting to a system of 
anti-christian philosophy, founded on natural religious free- 
dom from all Bible restraints. 

At this period, there was an astonishing amalgamation 
of infidel principles — the spirit of war, and the overwhel fil- 
ing flood of intoxicating liquors of every description. 
Hence, in the above described neighborhood, at a tavern 
near the center, with a rum-selling store attached to it, 
there might be found every day in the week, and especially 
on the holy Sabbath, crowd after crowd of coming, going, 
staying, lounging, and drinking customers, all animated 
with the happiness of the religion of nature, and the 
politics of war for the enlargement of territory. And no 
guests were more highly honored at those season of 



354: VAGARIES OF LIQUOR TOPERS. 

hilarity than King Alcohol, his queen [licentiousness], and 
all the members of his royal family of intoxicating fool 
eries, to make sport for the crowds of comers, goers, loung 
ers, stayers, and mght-hawkers, in preparation for drunken 
sleepers. - 

Under such peculiar intoxicating privileges, petty law- 
suits were almost periodical; and Saturday afternoon ball- 
playing games, for the support and amusement of King 
AlcohoVs family, were nearly as uniform as the approach 
of the seventh day of the week, in alcoholic preparation for 
the next day, " Sunday" convocations, to see and be seen, 
to hear, tell, do, and drink about " some new thing,'''' some 
new religion, or some wonderful thing about war, politics, 
and the staggering pleasures of perfect liberty to do, or 
not to do, whatsoever was right in their own eyes, until 
they should fall asleep in a blessed fit of drunkenness. 
Such were once " signs of the times /" And if any person 
living in the neigborhood above described can show that 
the above daguerreotype portrait of the once " signs of the 
times' 1 '' of that neighborhood is not correctly given, let the 
deficiency be pointed out, and corrected, if it can be done 
to advantage. 

But, does that neighborhood retain to the present day, 
the same dissipated, detestable character? No, not so, 
indeed ; far from this. An entire moral revolution has 
made it almost every thing but what it was, in many im- 
portant respects, as its present portrait will clearly show, 
and is as follows. 

The same spot of earth, comprising the neighborhood 
above described, is situated between two small lakes, on 



GEOGRAPHY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD. 355 

the east and west, about five miles distant ; and between 
two villages, at the north and south, also at about five miles 
distant ; comprising an irregular circle of about five miles 
diameter. Now, in the above described irregular line cir- 
cle, without mountains, or ledges, or waste land of any con- 
sequence, still exists the same plain, level, farming land ; 
still without a village in the neighborhood, except those 
above stated in the boundary ; and no small propor- 
tion of the present inhabitants are such as have been born 
and married in the neighborhood, and are raising up fami- 
lies on the land of their ancestors, who have been gathered 
into the neighboring cemetery at the cross roads, in the 
center of the neighborhood, about an equal distance from 
each lake and each village, as described on the boundary. 

Now, within the boundary circle of the neighborhood (ex- 
clusive of the villages), where there were once eight taverns, 
there is not one — not one place where intoxicating liquors 
are made, sold, or bought for consumption, by larger or 
smaller quantities, with the exception of a few barrels of 
cider, made for vinegar, or sauce for eatables, and not for 
drunkenness. 

Now, in the neighborhood where once a house, or barn 
frame, or any building of consequence, could not be raised 
without as much intoxicating liquor as all attendant help- 
ers and spectators were pleased to swill down — buildings 
of any description are raised, or moved, without the aid 
of liquor. The refreshments now are substantial food, 
with such unintoxicating beverages as are desirable, with 
nutritious and healthful provisions. Let the following 
instance be remembered in confirmation of the fact above 



356 A BUILDING MOVED WITHOUT LIQUOR. 

stated, in regard to change of customs. A few years ago, 
a wooden house of worship, thirty-two by forty-eight feet 
in dimensions, twenty feet posts, the whole frame of large 
substantial timbers, selected from the best trees of the 
forest when the neighborhood was in its infancy ; the very 
same building which the fathers of the congregation erected 
for worship in the days of the generation dead and gone ; 
this heavy building was moved bodily three-fourths of a 
mile, both down hill and up hill, by horse-power machinery, 
requiring from ten to twenty men, with several other 
teams to remove timbers, machine, and rollers, during 
about twenty portions of days in winter season ; all which 
was accomplished and completed by placing the old 
house of worship aforesaid by the side of the burial ground 
where its builders sleep in the dust ; during which various 
seasons of removal, on portions of twenty days included 
in six or seven winter weeks, not one drop of intoxicating 
liquor of any description was brought on to the ground of 
removal ; nor inquiry made for the article ; nor complaint 
made or heard of, on account of its absence. And here let 
it be more particularly remarked, that the removed house 
of worship to the side of the burial ground of its builders, 
was the same which the first settlers erected and occupied 
as their place of worship, in peace, love, and unity, during 
the continuation of their much-loved minister, the Bev. 
William B. Ripley, and the days of their mutual pros- 
perity. But when the influence of the adversary prevailed, 
and their minister was dismissed ; yea, when the season 
of discord, calamity, and darkness approached, under the 
sovereign reign of intemperance and its concomitant woes ; 



HARVESTS GATHERED WITHOUT RUM. 357 

then, in those days of darkness, their house of worship 
was sold at auction, but was providentially redeemed, and 
held in possession by a few in number ; and eventually, 
by an overruling Providence, found its way over small 
hills and dales to the tombs of its builders, without the aid 
of intoxicating liquors or the need of their assistance. 

And let it further be remarked, in relation to reformed 
customs in the neighborhood above described : — There, 
once, the calculation was as uniformly made, to procure an 
abundant supply of harvest rum, as to prepare provisions 
for eating, and tools for working, to cut, gather, and col- 
lect the harvest into barns — but now, seldom is a gallon 
of liquor procured, or a drop of the poison of alcohol 
kept in the house, or carried into the field in time of gath- 
ering the fruits of Divine Providential blessings into barn 
or store- houses. Alcoholic aid is found to be worse than 
useless ! 

Now, the above described neighborhood is sometimes 
years without a justice of the peace, or constable, or a 
petty lawsuit within their bounds. Now, the old house 
of worship, removed, and somewhat repaired in a plain 
manner, has been used for several years as a place of wor- 
ship ; seats free to all denominations of evangelical Chris- 
tians on their funeral occasions, who wish to bury their 
dead in the cemetery at the side of the house of worship ; 
and the prospect is, that a Church will yet be gathered on 
the platform of Congregational Evangelical Alliance on 
Christian principles, which are greatly prevailing in Eu- 
rope, and must, and doubtless will prevail throughout all 
Christendom, in fulfillment- of Divine Predictions, prepara- 



358 IMPORTANT QUESTION. 

tory to the millennial day, glorious and prosperous state 
of the church of God, when intemperance shall be banished 
from the earth ; and the name of the Lord shall be glorious, 
and be glorified from the rising to the setting sun. Such 
are some of the " signs of the present times" in the neigh- 
borhood above designated. 

The question now is, what was the cause and the cir- 
cumstances of the above described reformation, which has 
produced such a contrast in the moral state and character 
of the neighborhood above described % The answer, so far 
as the cause is concerned, is comprised in a single sentence. 
The same cause which produced the Statute Law of Maine, 
which is now electrifying w T hole nations, and fast becoming 
the wonder of the world, as an example worthy of univer- 
sal imitation by the inhabitants of the earth, is the very 
same cause which produced the moral Temperance Re- 
formation in the neighborhood of which we have spoken ; 
all which is comprehended in three words at the heading 
of this chapter, namely, 

PROVIDENTIAL MORAL SUASION. 

The true doctrine of Moral Suasion is very little under- 
stood by many — greatly abused, perverted, or totally dis- 
carded by many others — and w T hen truly understood and 
used to the best advantage, in the power of man, for 
the accomplishment of any good and desirable object 
whatever, often fails of producing any good degree of suc- 
cess, on account of the violent and inflexible opposition 
made to it, by those for whose benefit the good designed 
to be accomplished is in a special manner intended ; but 



MORAL SUASION DEFINED. 359 

is lost by the neglect or rejection of the many unreason- 
able opposers 

Moral Suasion signifies the art of persuasion. For one 
to persuade others to believe what is truth — to disbelieve 
that which is known to be falsehood — or to do that which 
is good, and to avoid that which is evil. This is moral 
suasion. The whole labor, toil, suffering, perseverance, 
and endurance of a true gospel minister of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, is summed up in three words of an inspired apos- 
tle, thus — " We persuade men" Persuade them to what ! 
Why, summarily, we persuade men to be what God re- 
quires them to be, lovers of God and holiness ; and haters 
of sin and Satan — to do what God requires them to do, 
and to turn from every work and way which God has 
forbidden, on penalty of the curse of heaven on their per- 
sons, property, body, and soul. 

Such is the nature of Moral Suasion. And, nothing is 
more common, nor dangerous, than to close the eyes, stop 
the ears, strive against the convictions of conscience, and 
harden the heart against the instructions, entreaties, and 
warnings of Moral Suasion, to persuade mankind to do 
good, and to cease from doing evil, and avoid it as the 
sure precursor of condemnation and endless ruin. 

Moses used all the divinely prescribed instrumentalities 
to persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites from his op- 
pressive bondage. But when the Moral Suasion of Moses 
failed to accomplish the object of Israel's redemption from 
bondage, by signs and wonder 's, w T hich could be imitated by 
the magicians of Egypt, the Almighty Jehovah accom- 
plished the work effectually by the wisdom and power of His 



S60 MOEAL SUASION CARRIED INTO EFFECT. 

own Providential Moral Suasion, by the sudden death of 
the first-born son or daughter of all the Egyptian families 
throughout the whole land of Egypt ; and by closing up 
the divided water- walls of the Eed Sea upon Pharaoh and 
all his hosts, to their utter destruction. 

Now we are prepared to explain, and all who read may 
understand, what is meant by Providential Moral Suasion, 
for the promotion of temperance. When all human instru- 
mentalities failed to persuade the people of the State of 
Maine, to abandon the manufacture, traffic, and consump- 
tion of intoxicating liquors, by which some became rich, 
by making others to become drunkards, poor, wretched, 
miserable candidates for endless ruin — God put it into the 
heart of the Hon. Nsal Dow to devise a law for the legal 
destruction of the poison, that makes and kills drunkards. 
And under the superintendence of a divinely wise, merci- 
ful, and holy Providence, the Legislature of the State of 
Maine have been moved by Providential Moral Suasion, 
accompanying all human instrumentalities, to enact the 
Maine Law Statute, and execute it faithfully in fulfillment 
of a Divine prediction, revealed in an apostolic vision, on 
the isle of Patmos ; where it was seen that the water of 
destruction from the serpent's mouth, designed to destroy 
the church of God, in connection with the wicked world, 
should ultimately find its way into the mouth of the earth, 
at the foot of the total abstinence standard of the Temper- 
ance Reformation ; and there receive its doom of destruc- 
tion, for the salvation of those whom the serpent designed 
to destroy. Hence, the sentiment is incontrovertible, that 
the sovereign Lord of Creation, Providence, and Grace, 



PROVIDENTIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. 361 

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, God of the Bible, and only 
Saviour of sinners, is also the First Cause, and will be the 
Last End, triumphantly and gloriously, of the Temperance 
Reformation of this nineteenth century. He was the first 
mover of alarm. All moral-suasive instrumentalities, and 
their success and influence, have been under His sovereign 
control ; and nothing will or can be done effectually with- 
out the interposition of His wise, holy, and adorable 
Providence. 

We are hence prepared to consider the providential cir- 
cumstances which were divinely overruled to bring to pass 
the Temperance Reformation in the neighborhood above 
described. The following circumstances may be relied on 
as facts, which once, providentially, came to pass within one 
mile of the old church cemetery by its side, in the center 
of the neighborhood above described. When all human 
instrumentalities in that place had become poiverless, and 
were proved to be such by inflexible opposition, even to 
triumphant ridicule by the votaries of intemperance ; God 
took the work of reformation into His own providential 
hand, to let the inhabitants, of that neighborhood know 
whatiTe could do by the power of Omnipotent Providential 
Moral Suasion ! 

The first decisive providential stroke, was the sudden 
death of the poor drunkard, Richard, in the harvest-field 
on the swarth of rye, which has been described in chapter 
VIII. of this book. Nothing was more evident than the 
fact, that at that death, and especially on the funeral occa- 
sion, the discourse from the words of God, " Woe to the 
drunkards of Ephraim," produced a trembling and shaking 

31 



362 a drunkard's grave. 

of conscience, which broke in upon the strongholds of in- 
temperance, and caused drunkards and hard drinkers to 
shake and tremble ! Eichard's grave is in the cemetery 
above described, at the foot of his mother's grave, on which 
solemn spot of earth he slept on the grass in the open air, 
in a state of intoxication the last night of his life on the 
earth ! This fact was made known by a lady living near 
to the burial-place, who heard him make the following sin- 
gular expression on coming out of the cemetery on the 
morning of his death. When asked where he had slept, 
he replied, " I have slept on the grass at the foot of my 
mother's grave, and I hope it will not be long before I shall^ 
be laid down there to sleep forever !" At about one 
o'clock that day he died in a state of intoxication, and his 
grave was prepared on the spot of his choice ; on the sod 
of which might be w r ritten 

A drunkard '5 liquor less repository ! 
Designed for other drunkards 9 monitory t 

The next solemn voice of God's providential and effect- 
ual Divine Moral Suasion, to awe drunkards to a solemn 
persuasion to set down their glass ! was the burning to death 
of sl female drunkard, less than a-half-mile from the central 
burial-place above described. She and her husband were 
both confirmed drunkards, of the poorest and lowest class 
of human beings. They inhabited a small shanty — had 
three children, the youngest less than a week old in the 
month of February, 1833, when the wretched mother 
in the morning, after the husband's absence, left her bed, 
clad only in her night-clothes, approached near to a brisk 



FUNERAL OF A FEMALE DKUNKARD. 363 

fire on the hearth — her clothes took fire ; she escaped back 
to the bed in flames, got into the bed, but not to the injury 
of her infant ; and before help could be procured, by the 
alarm of a neighboring little girl, who was in the shanty, 
the wretched woman had received her death-warrant, and 
expired in a few hours. The Divine Providential Moral 
Suasive " voice" of that awful female death ! was in lan- 
guage like peals of thunder and forked lightnings from the 
clouds of heaven uttered in an earthquake. Drunkards, 
set down your glass ! Prepare to meet thy God ! Set 
down your glass ! for it is written " Drunkards shall not in- 
herit the kingdom of God." Set down your glass, drunk- 
ards, or burn forever ! 

The funeral of this woman was attended in the school- 
house within a few rods of the burial-place, before the re- 
moval of the house of worship above stated. The preacher 
was the late venerable and well-known Methodist presiding 
elder, Rev. William Anson, w r ho faithfully sounded the 
trumpet of alarm, and the author of these historical remi- 
niscences was present, and made the appointment then, on 
the 15th of February, to deliver a temperance address in 
the same place on the ensuing 26th instant, which led to a 
third very important providential moral suasive alarm in 
that neighborhood, which has been narrated in the eighth 
chapter of this book, headed, " Address on Breaking of a 
Rum-Jug by a Revolutionary Soldier." 

The following additional circumstances connected with 
the breaking of the rum-jug, are now made to show the 
importance of that connecting link in the chain of Divine 
Providential Moral Suasive circumstances, which moved 



364: COINCIDENT CIRCUMSTANCES. 

forward the Temperance Reformation of the neighborhood 
of Balls ton East Line, Union Corners, in the county of 
Saratoga, and State of New York (which strangers may 
understand is the name of the center of the neighborhood 
designated in this whole chapter). The connection of cir- 
cumstances was above all human wisdom to have devised, 
and show T s conclusively that the whole train was the result 
of a Divine Providential Moral Suasion, to bring to pass 
what God had designed to do, in favor of the Temperance 
Reformation in a neighborhood where Satan had long been 
seated in his chair of state. Now consider the 

PROVIDENTIAL CONNECTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES; 

The death of Richard on the sw r arth of rye, was in the 
field of the old revolutionary soldier who broke the rum- 
jug, and signed the temperance pledge the same hour. 
The funeral sermon of Richard was in the old man's house, 
tw T o years and a half before the jug was broken, and within 
a quarter of a mile from the central burial-ground. The 
old man was a solemn hearer of the warning voice of God's 
word in that funeral sermon, by his son, from the words 
of a prophet : " Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim." The 
death of the female drunkard by burning, was nearly two 
years and a half after the funeral of Richard, and less than 
two w r eeks before the breaking of the jug. At her funeral, 
February 15th, the appointment was made for the temper- 
ance lecture to be delivered on the 26th of February, 1833, 
at noon, in the school-house, near the graves of these drunk- 
ards in the cemetery. The next day after that appoint- 
ment was made> the heart-rending anecdote w r as read to 



A PEACEFUL DYING DAY. 365 

the old revolutionary soldier — the rum jug was broken, 
the temperance pledge was signed by him as a voluntary 
act, which was sacredly observed to his dying day, about 
a year after his signature of the temperance pledge ; and 
when the pledge was signed, leave, also, was given by him 
to his son, to make such use of the facts in relation to 
those providential circumstances, as might be deemed 
calculated to do good. Consequently, the circumstances 
of the breaking of the jug, and the reformation of the old 
revolutionary veteran, was especially set forth in the tem- 
perance lecture on the day of appointment, in the school- 
house near the cemetery ; repeated the same afternoon to 
a large assembly in the old Baptist church in the village 
of Ballston Spa, the whole of which temperance lecture 
was published by the editor of a newspaper in the village 
of Ballston Spa the week following, at his request and pro- 
posal ; and, by the request of a gentleman in the village, 
before the types were distributed, the columns were ar- 
ranged into pamphlet form, and many hundreds of copies 
were published, and scattered broadcast over the adjacent 
community, all which was noticed and felt, as the effect of 
a providential moral suasory movement in favor of the 
Temperance Reformation. One hundred copies of said 
pamphlet were purchased for gratuitous distribution in the 
school-district of Ballston East Line, Union Corners, and 
places adjacent, every family of whom had a copy present- 
ed. A flourishing juvenile temperance society was soon 
after organized in the school-district w T here the address was 
delivered, and continued to flourish for years. The old 
house of worship was brought from its ancient location to 



366 SATAN'S SEAT TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. 

the side of the cemetery, without the aid of strong drink. 
The noted ill-famed tavern stand and rum-selling store 
above described, on the corner opposite the cemetery and 
old house of worship after its removal, were subsequently 
purchased by the author of these reminiscences. The store 
was sold, removed, and converted into a tenant dwelling- 
house of temperance inmates, where it still continues thus 
occupied. And the tavern-house, long the polluted central 
small country hotel, for in-door rabbles, drinking, dancing, 
lounging, drunken customers, law-suits, and what not, and 
out-door Saturday afternoon periodical games of ball-play 
for liquor, in weekly preparation for Sabbath convocations 
at the noted central place of meeting for rum's religious 
confabulations, on every subject that "Sunday" loafers, 
comers, and goers, deemed important to dwell upon, for 
their amusement, or for their religious, political, mechani- 
cal, and agricultural improvement, seasoned well with in- 
toxicating beverages, after the custom of years that have 
rolled into past eternity ; yes, that little old tavern-stand, 
after being divested of its alcoholic attire and accompani- 
ments, has, at last, providentially become the temperance 
house, private dwelling-place of the author of these remi- 
niscences, and his aged helpmeet, the wife of his youth, 
both .of whom were once school-children in adjoining school- 
districts in the neighborhood, between the lakes, before the 
house of worship was built by the first class of settlers, or 
a minister was settled in the place, or the noted cemetery 
now before our door was set apart as consecrated ground, 
for the quiet sleep of death. Here we are permitted still 
to live. Here God has blessed us with a temperance com- 



SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. 367 

munity. And here we are content to dwell the remainder 
of our days — not to live in idle and useless retirement by 
the graves of our ancestors, and the house of w r orship which 
they assisted to build, when we were children; but, to 
" trust in the Lord and do good," hoping to enjoy the an- 
nexed comforting promise, "So shalt thou dwell in the 
land, and verily thou shalt be fed." 

The special circumstances of the adorable providence of 
God, in favor of the Temperance Reformation at Ballston 
East Line Union Corners, will receive additional import- 
ance from considerations in relation to the uprooting of the 
abominations of this central house of ill- fame, the principal 
remaining stronghold of intemperance in the whole neigh- 
borhood between the lakes above described. 

The tavern-house and rum-selling store adjoining, oppo- 
site to the cemetery above stated, were erected many 
years ago, on a two acre lot of land, once belonging to the 
grandfather of the author of these reminiscences, which by 
him was conveyed by deed of gift to a son-in-law (an in- 
temperate man), who, instead of erecting a tannery upon 
it, as he had promised to do, sold the two-acre-lot of land to 
a person who erected the tavern-house about fifty years 
ago. And in process of time, the premises thus previously 
consecrated to the worship of Bacchus, was sold again to 
the builder of a store, so constructed, that a door in the 
bar-room of the tavern close by the bar of liquors, opened 
into the store — and another door of the store opened into 
the street opposite to the public burial-ground, at a little 
distance from the opposite corner. Here the worthy land- 
lord kept a store and tavern together. In the store, intox- 



368 A COUNTRY TAVERN-HOUSE. 

icating liquors of various kinds and flavors could be 
obtained by the gallon. And by passing a do*or into the 
bar-room, intoxicating liquors of variety and abundance 
could be had by the small measure, to prepare the recipi 
ents for a pass through another door into the ball-chamber 
to dance till they thirsted for more liquor. Considering 
the propensities of tavern haunters, it can not be deemed 
strange, if a hotel, bar-room, store, and ball-room, all under 
one roof — thus commodiously fitted up for the promotion 
of the various branches of sensuality, close by, a congre- 
gation of the dead, where a grave could be prepared with 
dispatch, if a devotee of intemperance should chance to die 
suddenly in the hotel — nay, under such favorable circum- 
stances, it could not be deemed strange that such a public- 
house should be well patronized by votaries of strong 
drink and pleasure, even to the excess above described in 
relation to facts of former " signs of the times /" For in 
fact, it would have been no misnomer, if the noted tavern 
had been honored with the discriminating appellation of 
Satan's East Line Mansion-house. 

This rum-selling establishment had for many years been 
in full operation, when the principal part of the other 
taverns in the East Line neighborhood had fallen into dis- 
use. This was the most notable, and the last but one to be 
uprooted. This tavern and store, often changing owners 
or tenants, combined to form a strong tower of Satan's in- 
temperate dominion on earth, and one of difficult removal. 
It was in full operation, within a few rods of the district 
school-house, when the proposition was made to remove 
the old house of worship from its ancient location, to a new 



PEPwXICIOUS EXAMPLES. 369 

site on an -opposite corner of the public highways at the 
cemetery. Children from the school-house had only to run 
across the East Line road, to sell eggs for rum or other 
commodities ; or to run in droves, at intermission, into the 
store or tavern, to see and be seen, hear and be heard, 
where they could mingle with a crowd of loafers, always 
in attendance, of the basest of characters, and there witness 
examples of the most voluptuous language and conduct, 
poison as rats-bane ! 

The tavern and store at that time were owned by a re- 
spectable widow ; but her tenants had stamped odium on her 
property. Under such circumstances, the two-acre corner 
lot of land, tavern-stand, and store, were offered for sale, and 
the author of these memoirs purchased the premises, paid 
for them ; and thus the prodigal two acres of land and ap- 
purtenances were at once added, or rather rejoined again, 
to the small adjoining farm-lot (without any buildings) 
which he had inherited from forefathers, to the eldest of 
whom, i. £., the grandfather, the original deed was given by 
Mr. Derick Leffers, of the city of New York, dated one 
year and three months before the present incumbent was 
born, who now retains the original deed in possession. 

This purchase of the tavern-stand, and the breaking up 
of the infernal rum-hole of this last but one in the neighbor- 
hood, took place after the removal of the old house of wor- 
ship.; and while the removed ancient sanctuary was under 
repairs, a few months before its dedication, which was on the 
birthday of the author hereof, aged then sixty-three, Nov. 
23, 1838 ; almost fourteen years ago. And yet, the re- 
cipient of all these divine mercies, and his aged helpmeet, 



370 DIFFERENT CLASSES OB INTEMPERATE HABITS. 

both live to occupy and enjoy the privileges of dwelling 
in a renovated house : vet Satan's w, the peaceful 

and quiet temperance home — sweet, sweet home — at the 

door of the sanctuary which we saw in building for the 
worship of God when we were children, in which we assem- 
bled in youthful days, under the ministry of the first 
lovely and excellent pastor, the Rev. William. B. Ripley 
(son of Dr. Ripley, of Greer.sfarm, Connecticut), and by 
whom, we were married, at his house, on Ballston East 
Line, several years before the author of these memoirs 
commenced his ministerial labors in the Congregational 
Church of Moreau, June, 1S03. 

In connection with the above circumstances, it may also 
be thus publicly recorded, that in the progress of the Tem- 
perance Reformation on the East Line of Ballston, the re- 
sult was remarkably variable in relation to the whole mass, 
and different classes of pers; red to intemperate 

habits. Among the number of habitual daily consumers 
of intoxicating liquors, some were downright confirmed 
drunkards — others were occasional drunkards — others were 
daily hard drinkers, and but seldom drunk — others were 
constant tipplers, because they loved the fumes of intoxi- 
cating liquor, and their ible appetite hankered, till 
an hourly inward thirst extorted the cry, u givi 
And among them all, in the aggregate, were such as were 
evidently pests in community — violent opposers of every 
providential measure of Temperance Reform ; haters and 
opposers of Temperance Reformers; and inflexibly de- 
termined to pre :he long-cherished customs of tav- 
ern-haunting, drinking, unmolested liberty of Saturday 



THE ONLY EFFECTUAL CURE. 371 

afternoon periodical ball games for liquor, to promote 
drunkenness, and all manner of dissipation ; and especially 
the abominable desecration of the holy Sabbath, by tavern- 
seeking convocations, and their concomitant Heaven-daring 
vices and soul-destroying habits. Now in the Temperance 
Reformation, all these had to meet with antagonistic op- 
position, in quest of their reform. And it was soon learned 
that the power of Divine Providential Moral Suasion was 
the only effectual cure of the infatuated disorder of intem- 
perate habits. Hence it came to pass that, by the Divine 
Power, some of the most hopeless drunkards were re- 
formed by Providential Moral Suasion, and were con- 
verted and transformed into the best class of reformed 
drunkards — who continue in the neighborhood, much be- 
loved and respected, or have removed to other parts of 
the country, with the blessing of Heaven upon their heads 
and families. While others of the above described in- 
temperate classes, who set their face of hardihood and bold 
defiance against high Heaven and the very powers of 
Providential Moral Suasory influences for the reformation 
of drunkards, have been swept from their liquor strong- 
holds, by sudden or lingering death ; some have fled to 
parts unknown, probably to seek for intemperance liber- 
ties without molestation. And others still stand aloof 
from alliance with the principles and practice of total absti- 
nence temperance societies, from such a variety of pre- 
tences, excuses, and prevarications, that we shall not at the 
present time attempt to unriddle, nor confront, nor even 
name, nor explain. If they will be tipplers, constant hard 
drinkers, and drunkards, amid the entreaties of Divine 



372 ONE DRAUGHT OF COLD WATER. 

mercy, and the warnings of Divine judgments, one thing 
is certain — The Day of Account is approaching ! And 
this no human being can avoid. 

The display of the Divine Power of Providential Moral 
Suasion in the transformation of one incorrigible drunkard 
on Ballston Ea^FX*me7-into a total abstinence temperance 
man during life, by drinking M^nly one draught of cold 
water, will close this lecture. A ^nan, advanced in age 
and obstinate wickedness, the drunken father of a large 
family, was providentially converted several years ago to 
become a cold-water man, by drinking one draught of 
cold water, on one holy Sabbath day, and has neveiv^een 
known to drink a drop of intoxicating liquor since that" 
blessed Sabbath, when he became a perfectly sobei 
man. The means of his reformation were so remark- 
able that they must have a place in the conclusion of 
this chapter. 

On a pleasant Sabbath morning he left his family in a 
one-horse wagon, to go some dozen or more miles, to get 
some potatoes which had been promised to him by a rela- 
tive or friend. On his way, he called at one or two tav- 
erns, drank, and also replenished his little pocket-bottle 
with rum. He had to cross one river in a ferry-boat, 
which he did. He had one more considerable river to 
cross at a fording place, which at that time was fordable. 
In fording that river on that pleasant holy Sabbath he was 
constrained by Providential Moral Suasion to sign the 
cold-water pledge of total abstinence during life, even with 
a bottle of rum in his pocket ; and the pledge there signed 
was done in the presence of several witnesses, all of whom 



AN AWFUL COLD-WATER PLEDGE. 373 

could testify, were they here, to the solemnity in which 
the drunkard then and there signed the cold-water pledge 
of temperance, and ever after has remained a perfectly 
sober man. * 

Being somewhat intoxicated when his horse commenced 
fording the river, he reined the beast into a current of wa- 
ter, which swept the horse, wagon, and man down the 
stream, until the wagon floated so near to a rock above the 
water that the drunkard crawled from the wagon safe on 
the rock, still holding the lines by which he drove the 
horse firm in his hand. The next moment, as the horse 
and wagon floated from the rock, the drunkard holding to 
the lines, w r as twitched from the rock into the current, 
where he soon subscribed the cold-water pledge of Death 
by Drowning — was subsequently taken from the water by 
those who witnessed the awful scene — from whence he was 
brought home to his family, a dead man, by drinking cold 
water, with a bottle of rum in his pocket. And this was 
the effect of Providential Moral Suasion, such as God 
often uses to bring incorrigible, obstinate drunkards to the 
knowledge of His justice, when His mercy is willfully and 
perse veringly rejected. 

And let it be remembered, that this wretched man, who 
was compelled to sign the cold-water pledge of death, 
after he had long obstinately refused to sign the total absti 
nence temperance pledge, amid the special calls of Divine 
Providential Moral Suasion, was the drunken father of the 
boy who said to the clergyman, " I would take the w T hisky," 
which has been considered as the motto of the ninth chap- 
ter of this book. 

32 



S7i INVOCATION AND WARNING. 

May the Lord have mercy on all the remaining mem- 
bers of that household. O may they all abandon the 
poison that will destroy them, and seek the Lord's mercy 
while it may be found, and call upon Him while He is 
near ! For now is their accepted time — now is their only 
day of salvation. For, 

If calls of mercy from on high 
Are still rejected till they die, 
Better had they ne'er seen the light, 
Than weep in everlasting night ! 
Where Satan, and all drunkards dwell, 
The bottomless abyss of hell. 

Thus, we have arrived at a point of historical develop- 
ment, where the book of Temperance Keminiscences might 
be indefinitely postponed, until further historical facts and 
circumstances, now enveloped in futurity, shall be brought 
to light, and become matter of additional historical record ; 
and the word finis might here be written, were it not for 
the following important consideration, namely : That, as 
much has been said about the Liquor Law of Maine, as the 
panacea of intemperance, it is considered due to the pub- 
lic, that the Maine Liquor Law be historically annexed, 
verbatim, with its working in Maine, as an example 
worthy of universal imitation. 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 



AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF DRINKING-HOUSES AND 
TIPPLING-SHOPS. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
in Legislature assembled, as follows : 

Section 1. No person shall be allowed at any time to 
manufacture or sell, by himself, his clerk, servant, or agent, 
directly or indirectly, any spirituous or intoxicating liquors, 
or any mixed liquors, a part of which is spirituous or in- 
toxicating, except as hereafter provided. 

Sec. 2. The selectmen of any town, arid mayor and alder- 
men of any city, on the first Monday of May annually, or 
as soon thereafter as may be convenient, may appoint 
some suitable person as the agent of said town or city, tc 
sell at some central or convenient place within said town 
or city, spirits, wines, or other intoxicating liquors, to be 
used for medicinal and mechanical purposes and no other ; 
and said agent shall receive such compensation for his ser- 
vices as the board appointing him shall prescribe; and 
shall, in the sale of such liquors, conform to such rules and 
regulations as the selectmen or mayor and aldermen as 
aforesaid, shall prescribe for that purpose. And such agent, 
appointed as aforesaid, shall hold his situation for one 
year, unless sooner removed by the board from which he 
received his appointment, as he may be at any time, at the 
pleasure of said board. 



376 THE MAI3TE LIQUOR LAW. 

Sec. 3. Such agent shall receive a certificate from the 
mayor and aldermen and selectmen by whom he has been 
appointed, authorizing him, as the agent of such town or-city, 
to sell intoxicating liquors for medicinal and mechanical 
purposes only ; but such certificate shall not be delivered 
to the person so appointed, until he shall have executed 
and delivered to said board a bond, with two good and 
sufficient sureties, in the sum of six hundred dollars, in sub- 
stance as follows : 

Know all men, that we, as principal, and as 

sureties, are holden and stand firmly bound to the inhabit- 
ants of the town of (or city, as the case may be), in 

the sum of six hundred dollars, to be paid them, to which 
payment w r e bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and ad- 
ministrators, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our 
seals, and dated this day of A.D. . 

The condition of this obligation is such, that whereas the 

above bounden has been duly appointed an agent for 

the town (or city) of to sell, within and for and on 

account of said town (or city), intoxicating liquors for me- 
dicinal and mechanical purposes and no other, until the 

of A.D. — — , unless sooner removed from said 

agency. 

Now if the said shall in all respects conform to the 

provisions of the law relating to the business for which he 
is appointed, and to such rules and regulations as now are 
or shall be from time to time established by the board 
making the appointment, then this obligation to be void; 
otherwise to remain in full force. 

Sec. 4. If any person, by himself, clerk, servant, or 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 377 

agent, shall at any time sell any spirituous or intoxicating 
liquors, or any mixed liquors, part of which is intoxicating, 
in violation of the provisions of this act, he shall forfeit 
and pay on the first conviction ten dollars and the costs of 
prosecution, and shall stand committed until the same be 
paid ; on the second conviction he shall pay twenty dollars 
and the costs of prosecution, and shall stand committed 
until the same be paid ; on the third and every subsequent 
conviction, he shall pay twenty dollars and the costs of 
prosecution, and shall be imprisoned in the common jail, 
not less than three months, nor more than six months, and 
in default of the payment of the fines and costs prescribed 
by this section for the first and second convictions, the con- 
vict shall not be entitled to the benefit of chapter 175 of 
the revised statutes, until he shall have been imprisoned 
two months ; and in default of payment of fines and costs 
provided for the third and every subsequent conviction, he 
shall not be entitled to the benefit of said chapter 175 of 
the revised statutes, until he shall have been imprisoned 
four months. And if any clerk, servant, agent, or other 
person in the employment or on the premises of another, 
shall violate the provisions of this section, he shall be held- 
equally guilty with the principal, and on conviction shall 
suffer the same penalty. 

Sec. 5. Any forfeiture or penalty arising under the above 
section, may be recovered by an action of debt, or by com- 
plaint before any justice of the peace, or judge of any mu- 
nicipal or police court, in the county where the offense w^as 
committed. And the forfeiture so recovered shall go to 
the town where the convicted party resides, for the use of 



378 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

the poor ; and the prosecutor or complainant may be ad- 
mitted as a witness in the trial. And if any one of the 
selectmen or board of mayor and aldermen shall approve 
of the commencement of any such suit, by endorsing his 
name upon the writ, the defendant shall in no event re- 
cover any costs ; and in all actions of debt arising under 
this section, the fines and forfeitures suffered by the defend- 
ant, shall be the same as if the action had been by com- 
plaint. And it shall be the duty of the mayor and alder- 
men of any city, and selectmen of any town, to commence 
an action in behalf of said town or city, against any person 
guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this act, on 
being informed of the same, and being furnished with proof 
of the fact. 

Sec. 6. If any person shall claim an appeal from a judg- 
ment rendered against him by any judge or justice, on the 
trial of such action or complaint, he shall, before the ap- 
peal shall be allowed, recognize in the sum of one hundred 
dollars, with two good and sufficient sureties, in every case 
so appealed, to prosecute his appeal, and to pay all costs, 
fines, and penalties that may be awarded against him, upon 
a final disposition of such suit or complaint. And before 
his appeal shall be allowed, he shall also, in every case, 
give a bond with two other good and sufficient sureties, 
running to the town or city where the offense was com- 
mitted, in the sum of two hundred dollars, that he will not, 
during the pendency of such appeal, violate any of the pro- 
visions of this act. And no recognizance or bond shall be 
taken in cases arising under this act, except by the justice 
or judge before whom the trial was had ; and the defendant 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 379 

shall be held to advance the jury fees in every case of ap- 
peal in action of debt ; and in the event of a final convic- 
tion before a jury, the defendant shall pay and suffer double 
the amount of fines, penalties, and imprisonment awarded 
against him by the justice or judge from whose judgment 
the appeal was made. The forfeiture for all bonds and re- 
cognizances given in* pursuance of this act, shall go to the 
town or city where the offense was committed, for the use 
of the poor ; and if the recognizances and bonds mentioned 
in this section shall not be given within twenty-four hours 
after the judgment, the appeal shall not be allowed ; the 
defendant in the meantime to stand committed. 

Sec. 7. The mayor and aldermen of any city, and the 
selectmen of any town, whenever complaint shall be made 
to them that a breach of the conditions of the bond given 
by any person appointed under this act, has been commit- 
ted, shall notify the person complained of, and if, upon a 
hearing of the parties, it shall appear that any breach has 
been committed, they shall revoke and make void his ap- 
pointment. And whenever a breach of any bond given to 
the inhabitants of any city or town in pursuance of any of 
the provisions of this act, shall be made known to the 
mayor and aldermen, or selectmen, or shall in any manner 
come to their knowledge, they or some of them shall, at 
the expense and for the use of such city or town, cause 
the bond to be put in suit in any court proper to try the 
same. 

Sec. 8. No person shall be allowed to be a manufacturer 
of any spirituous or intoxicating liquor, or common seller 
thereof, without being duly appointed as aforesaid, on pain 



380 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

of forfeiting on the first conviction the sum of one hundred 
dollars and costs of prosecution, and in default of the pay- 
ment thereof, the person so convicted shall be imprisoned 
sixty days in the common jail ; and on the second convic- 
tion, the person so convicted shall pay the sum of two 
hundred dollars and costs of prosecution, and in default of 
payment, shall be imprisoned four months in the common 
jail ; and on the third and every subsequent conviction, shall 
pay the sum of two hundred dollars, and shall be impris- 
oned four months in the common jail of the county where 
the offense was committed; said penalties to be recovered 
before any court of competent jurisdiction, by indictment, 
or by action of debt in the name of the city or town where 
the offense shall be committed. And whenever a default 
shall be had of any recognizances arising under this act, 
scire facias shall be issued, returnable at the next term, and 
the same shall not be continued, unless for good cause, 
satisfactory to the court. 

Sec. 9. No person engaged in the unlawful traffic in in- 
toxicating liquors shall be competent to sit upon any jury 
in any case arising from this act, and when information 
shall be communicated to the court, that any member of 
any panel is engaged in such traffic, or that he is believed 
to be so engaged, the court shall inquire of the juryman of 
whom such belief is entertained ; and no answer which he 
shall make shall be used against him in any case arising 
under this act ; but if he shall answer falsely, he shall be 
incapable of serving on any jury in this State; but he may 
decline to answer, in which case he shall be discharged by 
the court from all further attendance as a juryman. 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW 381 

Sec. 10. Ali cases arising under this act, whether by 
action, indictment, or complaint, which shall come before 
a superior court, either by appeal or original entry, shall 
take precedence in said court of all other business, except 
those criminal cases in which the parties are actually un- 
der arrest awaiting a trial ; and the court and the prose- 
cuting officer shall not have authority to enter a nolle 
prosequi, or to grant a continuance in any case arising 
under this act, either before or after the verdict, except 
where the purposes of justice shall require it. 

Sec. 11. If any three persons, voters in the town or city 
where the complaint shall be made, shall, before any jus- 
tice of the peace or judge of municipal or police court, 
make complaint under oath or affirmation, that they have 
reason to believe, and do believe that spirituous or intoxi- 
cating liquors are kept or deposited, and intended for sale, 
by any person not authorized to sell the same in said city 
or town under the provisions of this act, in any store, shop, 
warehouse, or other building or place in said city or town, 
said justice or judge shall issue his warrant of search to 
any sheriff, city marshal, or deputy, or to any constable, 
who shall proceed to search the premises described in said 
warrant, and if any spirituous or intoxicating liquors are 
found therein, he shall seize the same, and convey them to 
some proper place of security, where he shall keep them 
until final action is had thereon. But no dwelling-house, 
in which or in part of which a shop is not kept, shall be 
searched, unless at least one of said complainants shall tes- 
tify to some acts of sale of intoxicating liquors therein, 
by the occupant thereof, or by his consent or permission, 



3S2 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

within at least one month of the time of making said com- 
plaint. And the owner or keeper of said liquors, seized 
as aforesaid, if he shall be known to the officer seizing the 
same, shall be summoned forthwith before the justice or 
judge by whose warrant the liquors were seized, and if he 
foils to appear, or unless he can show by positive proof, 
that said liquors are of foreign production, that they have 
been imported under the laws of the United States, and 
in accordance therewith — that they are contained in the 
original packages in which they were imported, and in 
quantities not less than the laws of the United States pre- 
scribe, they shall be declared forfeited, and shall be 
destroyed by authority of the written order to that effect, 
of said justice or judge, and in his presence, or in the pres- 
ence of some person appointed by him, to witness the 
destruction thereof, and who shall join with the officer by 
whom they shall have been destroyed, in attesting that 
fact upon the back of the order by authority of which it 
was done ; and the owner or keeper of such liquors shall 
pay a fine of twenty dollars and costs, or stand committed 
for thirty days, in default of payment, if in the opinion of 
the court, said liquors shall have been kept or deposited 
for the purposes of sale. And if the owner or possessor 
of any liquors seized in pursuance of this section, shall set 
up the claim that they have been regularly imported under 
the laws of the United States, and that they are contained 
in the original packages, the custom-house certificates of 
importation and proofs of marks on the casks or packages 
corresponding thereto, shall not be received as evidence 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 383 

that the liquors contained in said packages are those 
actually imported therein. 

Sec. 12. If the owner, keeper, or possessor of liquors, 
seized under the provisions of this act, shall be unknown 
to the officer seizing the same, they shall not be condemned 
and destroyed until they shall have been advertised, with 
the number and description of the packages as near as 
may be, for two weeks, by posting up a written descrip- 
tion of the same in some public place ; that if such liquors 
are actually the property of any city or town in the state, 
and were so at the time of the seizure, purchased for sale 
by the agent of said city or town, for medicinal or me- 
chanical purposes only, in pursuance of the provisions of 
this act, they may not be destroyed ; but upon satisfac- 
tory proof of such ownership, within said two weeks, be- 
fore the justice or judge by whose authority said liquors 
were seized, said justice or judge shall deliver to the agent 
of said city or town an order to the officer having said 
liquors in custody, whereupon said officer Shall deliver 
them to said agent, taking his receipt therefor on the back 
of said order, which shall be returned to said justice or 
judge. 

Sec. 13. If any person claiming any liquors seized as 
aforesaid, shall appeal from the judgment of any justice or 
judge, by whose authority the seizure was made, to the 
district court, before his appeal shall be allowed, he shall 
give a bond in the sum of two hundred dollars, with two 
good and sufficient sureties, to prosecute his appeal, and to 
pay all fines and costs which may be awarded against 
him; and in the case of any such appeal, where the quan- 



38i THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

tity of liquors so seized shall exceed. five gallons, if the 
final decision shall be against the appellant, that such 
liquors were intended by him for sale, he shall be adjudged 
by the court a common seller of intoxicating liquors, and 
shall be subject to the penalties provided for in section 
eight of this act ; and said liquors shall be destroyed, as 
provided for in section eleven. But nothing contained in 
this act shall be construed to prevent any chemist, artist, 
or manufacturer, in whose art or trade they may be neces- 
sary, from keeping at his place of business such reasonable 
and proper quantity of distilled liquors as he may have 
occasion to use in his art or trade, but not for sale. 

Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of any mayor, alderman, 
selectman, assessor, city marshal, or deputy, or constable, 
if he shall have information that any intoxicating liquors 
are kept or sold in any tent, shanty, hut, or place of any 
kind for selling refreshments, in any public place, on or 
near the ground of any cattle show, agricultural exhibition, 
military muster, or public occasion of any kind, to search 
such suspected place, and if such officer shall find upon the 
premises any intoxicating drinks, he shall seize them, and 
arrest the keeper or keepers of such place, and take them 
forthwith, or as soon as may be, before some justice or 
judge of a municipal or police court, with the liquors so 
found and seized, and upon proof that said liquors are 
intoxicating, that they were found in possession of the ac- 
cused, in a tent, shanty, or other place as aforesaid, he or 
they shall be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail 
for thirty days, and the liquor so seized shall be destroyed 
by order of said justice or judge. 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 385 

Sec. 15. If any person arrested under the preceding 
section, and sentenced as aforesaid, shall claim an appeal, 
before his appeal shall be allowed, he shall give a bond in 
the sum of one hundred dollars, with two good and suffi- 
cient sureties, that he will prosecute his appeal, and pay- 
all fines, costs, and penalties which may be awarded against 
him. And if on such an appeal, the verdict of the jury be 
against him, he shall, in addition to the penalty awarded 
by the lower court, pay a fine of twenty dollars. In all 
cases of appeal under this act, from the judgment of a 
justice or judge of any municipal or police court, to the 
district court, except where the proceeding is by action of 
debt, they shall be conducted in said district court by the 
prosecuting officer of the government — and said officer 
shall be entitled to receive all costs, taxable to the State, 
in all criminal proceedings under this act, in addition to 
the salary allowed to such officer by law — but no costs in 
such cases shall be remitted or reduced by the prose- 
cuting officer or the court. In any suit, complaint, indict- 
ment, or other proceeding against any person for a viola- 
tion of any of the provisions of this act, other than for the 
first offense, it shall not be requisite to set forth particu- 
larly the record of a former conviction, but it shall be suf- 
ficient to allege briefly that such person has been convicted 
of a violation of the fourth section of this act, or as a com- 
mon seller, as the case may be ; and such allegation in 
any civil or criminal process, in any stage of the proceed- 
ings, before final judgment, may be amended without 
terms, and as a matter of right. 

Sec. 16. All payments or compensations for liquor sold 



386 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

in violation of law, whether in money, labor, or other pro- 
perty, either real or personal, shall be held and considered 
to have been received in violation of law, and without con- 
sideration, and against law, equity, and a good conscience ; 
and all sales, transfers, and conveyances, mortgages, liens, 
attachments, pledges, and securities of every kind, which 
either in whole or in part shall have been for or on 
account of spirituous or intoxicating liquors, shall be utterly 
null and void against all persons and in all cases, and no 
rights of any kind shall be acquired thereby ; and in any 
action, either at law or equity, touching such real or per- 
sonal estate, the purchaser of such liquors may be a wit- 
ness for either party. And no action of any kind shall be 
maintained in any court in this state, either in whole or in 
part, for intoxicating or spirituous liquors sold in any other 
state or county whatever, nor shall any action of any kind 
be had or maintained in any court in this state, for the re- 
covery or possession of intoxicating or spirituous liquors 
or the value thereof. 

Sec. 17. All the provisions of this act relating to towns 
shall be applicable to cities and plantations ; and those re- 
lating to selectmen shall also be applied to the mayor and 
aldermen of cities and assessors of plantations. 

Sec. 18. The act entitled " An Act to restrict the Sale 
of Intoxicating Drinks," approved August sixth, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty-six, is hereby repealed, ex- 
cept the thirteen sections, from section ten to section twen- 
ty-two inclusive, saving or reserving all actions or other 
proceedings, which are already commenced by authority 
of the same ; and all other acts and parts of acts inconsist- 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 387 

ent with this act are hereby repealed. This act to take 
effect from and after its approval by the goveiynor. 
{Approved June 2, 1851.) 

UNREPEALED SECTIONS OF THE OLD LAW. 

The following are the unrepealed sections of the Law of 
1846, referred to in the last section of the new law : 

Sec. 10. No action shall be maintained upon any claim 
or demand, whether it be note, account, bond, order, draft, 
acceptance, or other security or evidence whatever, made, 
had. or given in whole or in part, for any wine, brandy, rum, 
or other strong or spirituous liquors, or mixed liquors, a 
part of which is spirituous, sold in violation of the provi- 
sions of this act; provided, however, that this section shall 
not extend to negotiable paper in the hands of holders bona 
fide, and for a valuable consideration, without notice 
expressed or implied, of the illegality of the considera- 
tion. 

Sec. 11. If any payment or compensation for any such 
liquor hereafter sold, in violation of law, shall be received 
by the seller, his clerk, servant, agent, or attorney, whether 
in money, labor, or other property, real or personal, the 
amount so received shall be held and considered to have 
been received in violation of law and without considera- 
tion, and held against law and equity and good conscience, 
and may be recovered back, any time within six years from 
the receiving thereof, by the purchaser, his guardian, ex- 
ecutors, or administrators, or by any of his creditors, such 
money in action for money had and received, and such 
labor, goods, or other property in an action of trover, or in 



388 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW, 

a special action on the case, for the value thereof, in any 
court proper to try the same ; and the plaintiff in such ac- 
tion shall, within three days after the commencement of 
such suit, give notice thereof, by filing an abstract of the 
declaration, with the date of his writ, in the office of the 
clerk of the town where the defendant resides. And when 
such suit shall be commenced by a creditor, the purchaser 
may be a witness for the plaintiff, at the trial of the action, 
and such actions and cause of action shall survive. 

Sec. 12. All payment received within the six years may 
be embraced within one general count, and shall allege 
that the money, or other thing, was received by the de- 
fendant, for liquor sold in violation of law, and amendments 
may be made to the writ and declaration, as matter of 
right, and without terms, in any stage of the proceedings. 
And when the defendant shall rely upon having the legal 
license, or upon the liquor sold having been imported, the 
burden of proof shall be and continue upon him. The 
custom-house certificates of importation and proofs of 
marks on the cask corresponding thereto, may be received 
as evidence that the liquor specified in said certificate was 
once imported in said cask, but shall not be evidence that 
the liquor sold in or from such cask was the same liquor 
once imported therein. And it shall be no objection to the 
suit, that the payment was received for the joint use of the 
defendant and any other person or persons, or that the de- 
fendant was under the age of twenty-one years, or a 
married woman. 

Sec. 13. When the money or other thing shall have been 
received by any clerk, servant, agent, or attorney, the ac- 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 389 

tion may be maintained against him, if he had knowledge 
or previous notice that it was for liquor sold in violation 
of law\ And if any action which is authorized by this act, 
be brought in the district court, and the plaintiff prevail 
therein, full costs shall be allowed, though the amount of 
damages recovered be less than twenty dollars. 

Sec. 14. The defendant shall not be allowed, on the trial 
of any action against him, under any of the provisions of 
this act, any claims or demands he may have against the 
plaintiff or person to whom the liquor was sold or furnished, 
either in set off, payment, or otherwise ; nor shall the action 
of any creditor be defeated by any assignment of the claim 
by the purchaser. 

Sec. 15. No discharge, release, receipt, settlement, or 
admission made by a purchaser, shall defeat or hinder the 
suit, if it appear that the claim allowed to the purchaser 
by this act has not been actually paid in good faith, to its 
full value and amount ; and the giving a negotiable note or 
other obligation, shall not be deemed a payment. 

Sec. 16. Any plaintiff suing under the eleventh section 
of this act, may, at the trial, tender his oath in writing, 
which shall be received as evidence, unless the defendant 
shall in writing make an oath that he did not, within six 
years before the commencement of the suit, receive any 
payment or compensation, for any such wine or strong 
liquor sold to the plaintiff, or to any person whom the plain- 
tiff represents, contrary to the provisions of the law, as 
alleged in the declaration. 

Sec. 17. When a plaintiff suing under any of the provi- 
sions of this act, in order to prove the facts which he has 



390 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

alleged, shall wish to avail himself of the defendant's 
knowledge, relating to the subsequent matter of the suit, he 
may, in his declaration, ask for a disclosure of the same 
upon the oath of the defendant, in writing, and the disclo- 
sure, if made at the first term of the court, or day ap- 
pointed for the trial, may be submitted to the court or jury 
with the other evidence in the case ; but if the defendant 
neglects or refuses to make such disclosures, or if, when 
made, it does not absolutely and without qualification deny 
that he did sell the liquor and receive the money or other 
property therefor, as alleged in the declaration, and prevails 
in the action, he shall not receive any costs. 

Sec. 18. No answers or disclosures made by a de- 
fendant under the provisions of this act, shall ever be 
used against him in any penal action or criminal prosecu- 
tion. 

Sec. 19. Moneys which are by this act to be recovered 
back, may, when recovered by a guardian, executor, or ad- 
ministrator, be applied at the discretion of .the guardian, 
executor, or administrator, in whole or in part, to meet the 
debts of the purchaser, or to relieve his wife or widow and 
children, and parents, in such proportions as the guardian, 
executors, or administrators may deem suitable, and when 
recovered by a creditor, it shall be appropriated to the 
payment of his debt against the purchaser and his costs ; 
and if any balance remains, it shall be paid to the pur- 
chaser, his guardian, executor, or administrator, to be ap- 
propriated by them, in the same manner as moneys 
recovered under this act by them. And if any guardian, 
executor, or administrator, neglect to pay all said moneys, 



THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 391 

he and his sureties shall be liable for the same on his 
official bond. 

Sec. 20. Whenever a judgment shall be recovered 
against any person on account of a violation of this act, the 
execution which shall be issued thereon, shall run against 
the body of the execution debtor, whether the amount re- 
covered, exclusive of costs, be more or less than ten dol- 
lars ; and the justice or clerk issuing said execution, shall 
note on its margin that it was issued on a judgment ob- 
tained on account of intoxicating liquors sold in violation 
of law. 

Sec. 21. If such execution debtor shall be arrested on 
such execution, he shall be committed to prison, and shall 
not be permitted to give any of the bonds provided in the 
148th chapter of the Revised Statutes for the liberation of 
his person. And in case he shall apply to take the oath 
described in the twenty-eighth section of said chapter, no 
notice to the creditor shall be issued until fifteen days after 
the commitment. Provided, however, that no person shall 
be imprisoned on more than one warrant issued upon any 
judgment, recovered on account of the violation of the pro- 
visions of this act, at the same time. 

Sec. 22. The keepers of the prisons shall be entitled to 
receive the same compensation now allowed by law for the 
support of poor debtors imprisoned, for the support of per- 
sons committed on execution, recovered under the provi- 
sions of this act, to be allowed and paid out of the treasury 
of the county where such persons stand committed, under 
the direction of the county commissioners. 



392 THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. 

THE WORKING OF THE MAINE LAW. 

(From the Quarterly Report of the Mayor of Portland.) 

Mayor's Office, 5ep£.,1851. 
To the Citizens of Portland : 

The " Act for the Suppression of Drinking-Houses and 
Tippling-Shops," passed. at the last session of the Legisla- 
ture, has been in operation in this city for about three 
months, and I think it proper to give the people of Port- 
land some definite information of its results. 

At the time of its passage there were supposed to be in 
this city from two hundred to three hundred shops and 
other places where intoxicating liquors were sold to all 
comers. At the present time there are no places where 
such liquors are sold openly, and only a few where they 
are sold at all, and that with great caution and secresy, and 
only to those who are personally known to the keepers, 
and who can be relied upon not to betray them to the au- 
thorities. These places, with one (possibly with two) ex- 
ceptions, are of the lowest character ; and so far as they 
sell these liquors at all, minister to the depraved appetites 
of the basest part of our population ; but the keepers of 
these places will soon be brought to justice, so" that the 
traffic in intoxicating liquors, to be used as a drink, will be 
entirely extinguished in this city. The shops which I allude 
to are kept almost exclusively by foreigners, and the few 
persons who are now brought to the lock-up in the watch- 
house, are the customers of these places, and are themselves 
foreigners, almost without exception. The stock of liquors 
which the keepers of these places had on hand when the 



WORKING OF THE MAINE LAW. 393 

law went into operation will soon be exhausted, and some 
difficulty will be found by them in replenishing their stores, 
as the law will enable us to stop entirely the supplies of 
these liquors, which have hitherto been received principally 
by railroad and steamboat. 

All these persons who are now selling these liquors un- 
lawfully in Portland, are doing it on a very small scale. 
The supplies which the most of them keep on hand are 
extremely limited in amount, and every precaution is used 
to conceal them from the police. In one shop, searched, 
was found less than one quart, in two small bottles ; in 
another were found only three bottles, containing less than 
three quarts, concealed in a cellar, behind a board; in 
another, the liquor was found under the floor, buried in 
the earth — and some has been found in deeper con- 
cealment. 

Three months ago there were in this city several whole- 
sale dealers in liquors ; but at the present time there i-s 
not one — the wholesale business ceased entirely when the 
law went into operation. There was but one distillery in 
the State at the time of the enactment of this law, though 
another was in progress on a very large scale. Operations 
on the latter were promptly stopped, and the other has 
been demolished. At the present time there is no distil- 
lery in this State* * * * * 

The operation of the law in this city has effected a 
marked change for the better in every department which 
is under the care of the police. The night police has com- 
paratively little or nothing to do ; there are few or no 
street broils, and it is very seldom that the police or watch 



391 WORKING OF THE MAINE LAW. 

are called upon to interfere in any quarrels or disturbances 
of any kind in shops or houses in any part of the city. 
Before the enactment of this law, scarcely a night passed 
over without some disturbance of this description, and 
sometimes the police were called upon to quell many such 
disturbances in a single night. 

At the commencement of the present year, scarcely a 
night passed over without the committal to the watch- 
house of more or less intemperate persons, and sometimes 
many such were committed in a single night. The prac- 
tice formerly was to commit no intoxicated persons who 
were quiet and able to get home. At present, the orders 
to the police and watch are to arrest all persons found in 
the streets and in all other public places, either by night 
or by day, who exhibit unmistakable signs of intoxication ; 
yet with all this rigor, the arrests for this cause are very 
few ; sometimes a week or more, and once, a fortnight 
having elapsed without any committal ; and were it not 
fur the low grog-shops, kept secretly by foreigners, the 
committals to the watch-house would not amount to one 
in a month, and this difficulty we hope to remedy within 
the year. The watch-house is now used to keep seized 
liquors instead of drunkards — and through the waste- ways 
of the lock-up, condemned liquors are passed off into the 
common sewers, without having fulfilled their mission of 
ruin and death to our citizens. * * * * 

Neal Dow, Mayor. 



CONGRATULATIONS FOE THE PEOPLE OF MAINE. 395 

{From Prof. Moses Stuart, of Andover.) 

People of Maine ! The God of heaven bless you, for 
achieving such a victory. Many triumphs have been 
achieved in the good cause, but none like yours. Others 
have more or less fought with the drunkards and the 
liquor-sellers, in the way of arguments and moral suasion, 
and indirect and inefficient and temporizing legislation. 
You have followed the most adroit conqueror the world 
has ever seen, in your scheme of policy, or struggle. You 
have steered for the capital itself, with all its magazines 
and materials of war ; and these once in your hands, you 
know the contest can not long continue. Whence are the 
arms and ammunition and rations to come, when all their 
deposits are seized 1 You have the unspeakable advan- 
tage of making war upon all the supplies of war, and not 
directly upon the men who take the field against you. 
You combat with the body of sin and death itself, and not 
with those who are deceived and misled. You do not pur- 
pose to destroy those who are misled and drawn to ruin, 
but to cripple and annihilate the power that misleads 
them. It is an elevated and noble purpose. When 
mighty conquerors and crafty politicians will be forgotten, 
the laurel on your brows will be freshening and blooming 

with a beauty and glory that will be immortal. 

******* 

I know well what liquor-dealers and distillers will say. 
They allege that their property has been taken away, and 
their means of living prohibited. Very well ; but what is 
your property ? It has been applied to procure means to 



396 FKOM PROFESSOR STtURT. 

corrupt and destroy the community. Counterfeiters lay 
out large sums to procure dies for stamping coins, and 
plates for imitating the best bank bills. Are their estab- 
lishments to be protected ? The erectors of those dread- 
ful places, rightly called Hells, expend very large sums, 
and adorn them with magnificence. Must the community 
respect this property ? Even honest men erect a slaugh- 
ter-house, or a manufactory with noisome gases issuing 
from it, in the midst of a city or town. Is this property 
to be protected ? Men adulterate medicines, and Congress 
rises up, to a man, and forbids it, not only by legislation 
but by active inspecting officers. Are they not in the 
right? But — are they consistent? There are hundreds 
of thousands of hogsheads of adulterated liquor, much of 
it containing rank poison, over which they exercise no 
inspection, and submit it to no examination. Is this a due 
protection of the ignorant and unsuspecting part of the 
community ? Scores of thousands die every year through 
the influence of these poisons. * * And have society no 
remedy against all this? Maine has nobly said they 
have. She has spoken with trumpet-tongue that which 
eternal truth will sanction. Talk of property in the means 
of corrupting, and destroy the community ! Why, then 
the robber's cave, and the counterfeiter's shop, where his 
expensive work is done, is property to be respected. 
Even the innocent and industrious man, if he undertakes a 
business which poisons the air and endangers the life of 
the citizens, is at once compelled to relinquish his station. 
How can any man rightly own that as property which 
sends forth pestilence and death through a whole commu- 



FROM PROFESSOR STUART. 397 

nity ? The plea for property is idle. It is unworthy a 
moment's regard. 

So long as Legislatures pursued the criminal personally , 
so long they were sure to be met with false testimony to 
screen them, and abundance of sympathy with them be- 
cause of their penalties. It took them longer than one 
would imagine to find out and believe that drunkards and 
the makers of drunkards will lie. The discovery is made 
at last. Maine has now lain its hand on that which can 
tell no lies, and that with which no honest man can sym- 
pathize. 

Yes ; destroy it as you would a poisonous well, or a 
hyena, or a tiger, without remorse and without mercy. 
Stand between the living and the dead, and stay the 
plague. Say — Thus far hast thou come, with wasting and 
desolation in thy train, but not a step farther shalt thou 
advance. Nor is this all. Retreat forthwith. Abandon 
the ground, thou foul fiend, which thou hast occupied ; yea, 
make a speedy and a final retreat. We will bear thy 
presence no longer, and if thou delay est, we will sweep 
thee away with the besom of destruction. 

34 



THE AUTHOR'S 

IALUTATORY AND VALEDICTORY ADDRESS, 

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE RENOWNED STATE OF MAINE, 



Hail ! ye most worthy inventive projector — independ- 
ent Legislative enactors — superlative State official ap- 
prover, and inflexibly efficient temperance executors of 
the celebrated Liquor Law of the State of Maine, pri- 
marily constituted and promulgated, as legally effective, 
on the second day of June, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. 

Hail ! ye bands of Temperance brethren and sisters — 
Sons and Daughters of Temperance, Rechabites, Cadets, 
and all other appellative orders of Temperance — whose 
names, written by your hands, stand recorded in your 
Bibles, or enrolled in books of Temperance Record, for 
the information and example of succeeding generations, 
to witness and patronize, while the earth is lighted with 
the sun, and preserved in her orbit around the center of 
her attraction, till all the Divine purposes for which she 
was made shall have been accomplished. All hail ! ye 
highly-favored people of the Lord. 

When the long- foretold enemy came in like a flood, 
from the mouth of the Satanic Dragon, to carry away the 
Church and the world of human beings, by the deluge of 



A SACRIFICE OFFERED TO NEPTUNE. 399 

intemperance, and its' contaminating woes of degradation, 
poverty, wretchedness, and crime, into the vortex of end- 
less, hopeless death; and, when an alarm was made, a 
standard of Temperance Moral Suasion erected, and ban- 
ners of total abstinence displayed, .to entreat the ferocious 
enemy to desist from his destructive invasions — all which 
(divinely-approved measures) operated only to increase 
the fury of the soul-destroying monster of the bottomless 
pit — you, the sovereign people of Maine, constituted the 
first detachment of volunteers (armed with the effective 
weapons of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors) 
who ventured to seize the infernal beast by the horns, 
drag him to your Atlantic shore (under the surges of the 
dashing, and foaming, and roaring billows of the waves of 
old Ocean), and there make a Maine State sacrifice to 
Neptune, of the leviathan of the lake of alcoholic fire, 
after the following order, namely : First, by a sledge blow 
of Maine Law on the head of the monster, to mix blood, 
flesh, and skull-bones together; secondly, by ripping the 
carcass open, that the interior regions may be prepared to 
find a new lodgment ; and, third and lastly, by emptying 
the whole contents of the prepared sacrifice — skin, flesh, 
blood, bones, skull, and bowels of the beast, all together — 
into the ocean-bowels by the way of the mouth of mother 
earth, for their safe keeping and eternal putrefaction, to 
save millions of human beings from intemperate destruc- 
tion. Hence, to you, honored brethren and sisters of the 
State of Maine — to you be given the credit worthily de- 
served, cheerfully conferred, and perpetually preserved 
w T ith glowing brilliancy, accompanied with the Divine be- 



400 EXTRACTS FROM " SIX REASONS." 

nignity on the generations of your offspring, who shall rise 
and people the State of Maine with a sober population, 
crowned with the blessings of sobriety, peace, prosperity, 
and purity of Christian doctrine, and practical piety, such 
as are inculcated in the Holy Bible, till time shall be no 
more. May such be your reward on earth, and consum- 
mated with endless glory in heaven, is the prayer of your 
brother in the cause of Temperance, and in the faith of 
the blessed Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Lebbeus Armstrong. 



The following are extracts from "Six Reasons why 
the State of New York should adopt the Maine Law. 
Presented by the New York State Temperance Society 
to the people of the State :" 

I. 

All legislation hitherto adopted for the protection of the 
people from the evils of intemperance has been false in prin- 
ciple, and utterly insufficient for its great object. 

Laws designed for the regulating of the traffic have 
failed to meet the object designed, or to satisfy the wants 
of the people; and up to this hour legislation has been 
of no use in preventing or suppressing intemperance — has 
proved of no account — perfectly worthless in relation to its 
great object. It has neither regulated the traffic that it 
should become, not a curse, but a blessing ; nor prevented 
men from wasting their property, becoming drunkards, 



INTEMPERANCE A PERFECT ANOMALY. 401 

curses in their families, and nuisances in the community, 
nor hindered the spread of intemperance over the State. 

If murder, and theft, and counterfeiting had thus run 
riot under the laws condemning them, we should long 
since have despaired of the force of human government. 
Intemperance is here a perfect anomaly. And our legis- 
lation has licensed it, and given it all the authority of the 
State to do its wrongs. The licensed vender has been a' 
government officer, commissioned to deal out death and 
destruction among the people. 

Under this legislation, pursued for two hundred years, 
has grown up all the intemperance of the State. In the 
city of New York, the total number of licensed and un- 
licensed drinking houses is stated at 5,910. In 1849, there 
were committed to the prisons of the State 36,114 per- 
sons, who had committed crimes under the influence of 
intoxication ; and of the poor, then in the poor-houses, 
two-thirds, or 69,260, were pronounced paupers from in- 
temperance. In the nation, 30,000 have been annually 
committed to the drunkard's grave. Three hundred thou- 
sand in ten years ! all under a system of legislation which 
would regulate the traffic. Had the Prince of Darkness 
been our law-maker, could he have devised a system which 
would have burdened us more ] True, it has its penalties ; 
but what are they ? The man who sells without license is 
fined twenty-five dollars, i. £., if he is prosecuted and con- 
victed. But who prosecutes ? How easy to escape con- 
viction ! And if the penalty is recovered, where does it 
stop the sale? Of 1,500 unlicensed venders in the city 
of New York, and multitudes all over the State, to how 



402 THE LICENSE LAW IS WORTHLESS. 

many is it known ? The penalty for selling illegally on 
the Sabbath is, for each offense, two dollars and a half. 
But here again, who prosecutes, and what hindrance is the 
fine to the vender, who takes in his ten and twenty dollars 
on a Sabbath, and who, perhaps, finds aldermen and po- 
licemen among his customers'? Were the penalty im- 
prisoment and the entire destruction of the fixtures and 
means of trade, as in gambling and counterfeiting, there 
might be hope. As it is, the law is worthless. 

II. 

The Maine Law meets the exigencies of the State ; it 
furnishes the perfect protection which the people require at 
the hands of legislation. 

This law views all intoxicating drinks not demanding 
protection, but as vile, worthless, dangerous, and deadly, 
whose destruction is no loss, but an immense gain to the 
community. It forbids their sale in the State, except for 
medical and mechanical purposes, and requires their con- 
fiscation and destruction when offered for sale, as we de- 
stroy the tools of the counterfeiter and the apparatus of the 
gambler. Never was there a law of greater simplicity and 
more certain efficacy in removing the evils of intemper- 
ance, so far as they can be removed by the suppression 
of the sale of intoxicating liquors. And its confiscation 
and destruction of the liquor, as the enemy of the people, 
give rest to the State. The dealer has not only no license, - 
but he has no liquor to sell. His occupation is gone. 
The drunkards forsake him. He seeks other business, to 
the happiness of himself and comfort of his family. Such 



RESULTS OF THE MAINE LIQUOB LAW. 403 

is the Maine Liquor Law, perfectly capable of meeting 
the pressing exigencies of the Empire State. 

III. 

The Maine Law is not a mere matter of theory ; it has 
had the test of experience. 

It was adopted by a large vote of both branches of the 
Legislature. It has been executed almost without resist- 
ance in most of the cities and towns of the State. Drunk- 
ard-makers have yielded up their vocation, and retired to 
other business. Noise and riot, and fierce turbulence of 
the dram-shops are things gone by. Jails and lock-ups 
are almost without tenants. Commitments to the alms- 
house daily cease. The whole State opens her arms, an 
asylum for the inebriate. Her two millions of dollars, 
which she has annually expended and wasted upon intoxi- 
cating drinks, she may now expend upon her farms, her 
dwellings, her public improvements, the education of her 
children, and the means of religion. Maine has a promise 
of quiet, thrift, and joy. Is she not as worthy of our imi- 
tation, as she is an object of admiration? If we would 
not trust to theory, will we not confide in results 

IV. 

The law is perfectly consistent with our constitutions of 
government, and is without reasonable exception in all its 
bearings upon human rights. 

There is but one particular feature on the face of this 
law, which did not present itself in the great Massachusetts 
case, decided by the Supreme Judicial Court of the United 



404 MR. JUSTICE GRIEr's OPINION. 

States. The laws of Massachusetts had not contemplated 
the seizure and destruction of the property. The right to 
destroy, as included in the general power of self-protec- 
tion, and in the right of entire and absolute prohibition, 
is, nevertheless, clearly and sufficiently presented in the 
following passage : 

" All laws for the restraint or punishment of crime, or 
the preservation of the public peace, health, and morals, 
are, from their very nature, of primary importance, and lie 
at the foundation of social existence. They - are for the 
protection of life and liberty, and necessarily compel all 
laws on subjects of secondary importance, which relate 
only to property, convenience, and luxury, to recede when 
they come in contact or collision." — Mr. Justice Grier. 

V. 

The Maine Law meets the approbation of thousands of 
the wise and good, as opening a new era to the peace and 
thrift of human society. 

Her own citizens say there is no prospect of a repeal. 
Men of high standing give it their adhesion. In other 
States the law has been contemplated with profound ad- 
miration. 

VI. 

The adoption and faithful execution of this law by the 
State of New York would soon remove the greater portion 
of its intemperance, with all its frightful and unendurable 
evils, and secure an amount of order, peace, private and 
public thrift, which no mind of man can estimate. 



A SOVEREIGN REMEDY. 405 

Fellow-citizens, here is a remedy, such as the world 
never saw before. So it has proved in Maine. Receive 
and apply it, and so it will prove in the State of New 
York. 

And now the question arises, How shall it be effected % 
Who shall cause the Law of Maine to become the law of 
the State of New York % We answer, the people ! the 
people ! — You, yourselves, the Sovereigns of the State. 

The following extracts are from a tract, entitled " The 
Liquor Trade," by E. C. Del avast, Esq., of Ballston 
Centre : 

If there was no intoxicating drink to be had, there would 
be no moderate drinking or drunkards. All drunkards, 
of course, were once moderate drinkers. The line be- 
tween these two classes never has been, nor ever can be, 
intelligibly drawn. What a country ours would be, should 
the use of intoxicating liquor cease ! What can we do to 
present ourselves before the world thus free, not only from 
drunkards, but from that which alone makes drunkards ? 

Stringent laws are now in operation, prohibiting the sale 
' under severe penalties in some of our States, from which 
great and beneficial results are expected. A prohibitory 
act against the sale is, in effect, a prohibitory act against 
the use of intoxicating liquors. Could such a prohibition 
be carried into full effect, there would not long remain 
either drunkard or moderate drinker in the land. 

It appears to me that the time has fully come for the 
people of this great State to arouse to action, and unite 
heart and hand to protect themselves from the spirit trade. 



406 THE LIQUOR TRADE IS A PESTILENCE. 

If the trade in intoxicating liquors to be used as a bev- 
erage is an immoral trade, and productive of evil only, 
why should it not be classed with gambling, counterfeit- 
ing, and vending poisonous food, adulterated drugs, and 
clothing tainted with the plague, small-pox, yellow fever, 
and other infectious disease ? 

Every individual having facts calculated to place this 
trade in its true light, so as to render it as odious as it de- 
serves to be, should give them publicity in every justifia- 
ble way. Should one fourth of the poisons, now used in 
the beverages of the drunkard and the temperate drinker, 
be mingled in our food by the venders thereof, and the 
fact be made known as it has been in regard to intoxicating 
liquors, to what infamy, as well as penal suffering, would 
an indignant public doom the perpetrators of so great a 
wrong ! 

Steps then should be taken to enlighten every family in 
the State ; to present to them such facts and arguments as 
exist, and which go to show that the trade is a curse, and 
that all employed in it are contributing to extend and per- 
petuate that curse. 

To bring about a correct public opinion is the first step 
in this grand enterprise. And let those who wish that 
step to be taken ask themselves, what can we do to insure 
it? One thing we can do, and have a right to do, and that 
is, to exercise the right of freemen at the ballot-box. 

Let all who love the cause of temperance, and wish to 
see the liquor trade stopped, do all they can in their own 
party to secure that result — a result that can only be se- 
cured by the co-operation of different parties. Let us, 



VALUE OF A DRUNKARD'S VOTE. 407 

then, in our respective parties, select good men and true, 
who, by their example and their votes alike, will co-operate 
in hastening the time of our national deliverance. Temper- 
ance men are bound in all suitable ways to promote the 
cause of temperance; and temperance now, in its appro- 
priate signification^ means total abstinence from all that can 
intoxicate. And is not the purification of the ballot-box 
one of the ways in which this cause can be promoted? 
What reliance can be placed on a drunkard in defense of 
freedom % His vote can be purchased and repurchased a 
dozen times before it is cast, for a glass of rum ! a bribe 
that costs the buyer three cents, and the seller the half 
only of one, if that. 

Before our country can be entirely free, a great work 
has to be done at Washington. When the people shall 
have purified their respective States from the liquor trade, 
they will be prepared to purify the United States from the 
same trade. For the same people are sovereign in both. 
The importation of intoxicating drinks, prohibited by law, 
must be brought about, before we can become either a 
free or a virtuous people, and before our children and 
children's children can be safe. When, by an act of na- 
tional sovereignty, the liquor trade shall be inhibited, then 
the millions of bushels of grain now consumed in the dis- 
tilleries and breweries will be saved, and the suffering 
poor be relieved from the double curse of inebriety and 
starvation. The cause of temperance can not triumph while 
the making, importing, and vending of intoxicating liquors, 
to be used as a beverage, are permitted. These must ter- 
minate before the victory can be won. This the friends 



408 THE CONCLUSION. 

of temperance should fully understand, and in all their 
efforts, have the ultimate extermination of the traffic con 
stantly in view. The man, or men, who matured and ob 
tained the passage of the Liquor Law of Maine, deserve 
the highest honor. The law, when carried out in all its 
details, uproots this dreadful traffic entirely, and termi 
nates all the miseries following in its filthy and poisonous 
train. If Maine triumphs, it will be one of the most won- 
derful Moral Reforms of any age. That her triumph may 
be complete, should be the prayer of all good men. With 
such a triumph before the other States and the world, 
with the practical results of such triumphs universally made 
known, would come a universal desire of all, anxious for 
the welfare of the world, to follow so glorious an example. 

Such is the language of the venerable Mr. Delavan, and 
when this becomes the sentiment and effort of the sover- 
eign people, the world will be free from Intemperance. 



m 



$«* *f <%> 



f\ fP' PUBLISHED BY t^> / 

FOWLERS AND WELLS, ^ 

NO. 131 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK. 

American Phrenological Journal and Miscel- 
lany. Devoted to Phrenology, Physiology, and Self-Improvement. A year, $1 00 

Araativeness ; or, Evils and Remedies of Ex- 
cessive and Perverted Sexuality, with Adt'ce to the Married and Single,- 12£ 

Accidents and Emergencies. By Alfred 

Smee. Illustrated. Every family should have it, 12£ 

Botany for all Classes ; containing a Floral 

Dictionary, with numerous Illustrations. By John B. Newman, M.D., - 50 

Bulwer and Forbes on the Water Treatment. 

Edited, with Additional Matter, by R. S. Houghton, M.D., . 50 

Constitution of Man, considered in Relation 

to External Objects. A new, revised, enlarged, and illustrated edition, • 50 

Combe's Lectures on Phrenology. By George 

Combe. A complete course as delivered in the United States, - - 1 00 

Combe on Infancy ; or, the Physiological and 

Moral Management of Children. Illustrated. An important work, - oO 

Chemistry, Applied to Physiology, Agricul- 
ture, and Commerce. By Prof. Liebig. With additions by Dr. Gardiner, 20 

Curiosities of Common Water. With Addi- 
tions by Joel Shew, M.D. From the fifth London edition of 1723^ - - 25 

Cholera : Its Causes, Prevention and Cure ; 

and all other Bowel Complaints, treated by Water, 25 

Combe's Physiology, Applied to the Improve- 
ment of Mental and Physical Education. New edition, with Notes, - 50 

Chart for Recording various Developments. 

Designed for Phrenologists. Witb numerous engravings, - - 6^ | 

Constitution of Man. School Edition. By 

George Combe. Arranged with Questions, for a Class-Book, 25 

Consumption, its Prevention and Cure, by 

the Water Treatment, with directions. Illustrated, 50 

Chronic Diseases, Especially the Nervous 

Diseases of Women. Designed for married people particularly, 25 

Defence of Phrenology. By Dr. Andrew 

Boardman. A good work for skeptics and unbelievers, ... 50 



9 FOWLERS AND WELLS'S PUBLICATIONS. 

Educati on Complete. Embracing Physiology, 

Animal and Mental, Self-Culture, and Memory, in one large volume, - 2 00 

Education, Founded on the Nature of Man. 

By Dr. Spurzheim. A scientific work, with illustrations, ... 5© 

Elements of Animal Magnetism ; or. Process 

and Practical Application for relieving human suffering, - 12J 

Errors of Physicians and Others, in the Ap- 
plication of the Water-Cure. By J. H. Rausse, £5 

Experience in "Water-Cure, in Acute and 

other Diseases, with directions tD patients, 25 

Familiar Lessons on Phrenology and Physi- 
ology. Muslin, in one volume. Beautifully illustrated, - - - - 1 00 

Familiar Lessons on Phrenology. Designed 

for the use of Children and Youth, illustrated, -.--.. 50 

Familiar Lessons on Physiology. Designed 

for the use of Children and Youth, with engravings, 25 

Fascination ; or, the Philosophy of Charming. 

(Magnetism.^ Illustrating the Principles of Life. Illustrated,- • - 40 

Food and Diet: Containing an Analysis of 

every kind of Food and Drink. By Professor Pereira, .... 50 

Familiar Lessons on Astronomy. Designed 

for Children and Youth in Schools and Families. Beautifully Illustrated, 40 

Hereditary Descent : Its Laws and Facts ap- 
plied to Human Improvement. New edition, illustrated, .... 50 

Human Rights, and their Political Guaran- 
ties : Founded on the Moral and Intellectual Laws of our Being, - - 50 

Home for All ; or, a New, Cheap, Convenient, 

and Superior Mode of Building, with appropriate Diagrams, 50 

Hydropathic Encyclopedia. A Practical Sys- 
tem of Hydropathy and Hygiene. Illustrated. Py R. T. Trail, M.D. - 2 00 

Hydropathy for the People. An excellent 

work on health, With Notes by Dr. Trail, 50 

Introduction to the Water-Cure. With an 

Exposition of the Human Constitution. By T. L. Nichols, M.D., • • J3£ 

Love and Parentage : applied to the Improve- 
ment of Otfspring, including important Directions to the Married, 25 

Lectures on the Philosophy of Mesmersm 

and Clairvoyance. With instruction in its process and practical application, 25 

Labor : Its History and Prospects. Including 

the Use and Abuse of Wealth. By Robert Dale Owen, 25 

Lectures on Hygiene and Hydropathy. By 

R. S. Houghton, M.D., 25 



FOWLERS AN?) WELLS'S PUBLICATIONS. 3 

Maternity ; or, the Bearing and Nursing of 

Children, including Female Education. With appropriate Engravings, - 50 

Marriage : Its History and Philosophy, with 

a Phi enological Exposition of the Functions for Happy Marriages, - - 37$ 

Memory and Intellectual Improvement: Ap- 
plied to Self-Education and Juvenile Instruction. Twentieth edition, - 50 

Mesmerism in India. A superior work, by 

the celebrated Dr. Esdaile. Highly recommended by professional men, - 50 

Matrimony ; or, Phrenology and Physiology 

applied to the Selection of congenial Companions for Life, 25 

Moral and Intellectual Science. By Combe, 

Stratton, Cox, Gregory, and others. Illustrated with Portraits, - - 2 00 

Natural Laws of Man, physiologically con- 
sidered. By Dr. Spurzheim. A work of great merit, 25 

Psychology, or the Science of the Soul. With 

Engravings of the Nervous System. By Joseph Haddock, M.D., - - 25 

Physiology of Digestion. The Principles of 

Dietetics. Illustrated with~Engravings. By Andrew Combe, M.D., - 25 

Phrenology Proved, Illustrated, and Applied. 

Embracing a concise Elementary View of Phrenology, with a Chart - 1 00 

Phrenological Guide. Designed for the Use 

of Students of their own Characters. With numerous Engravings, - 12£ 

Phrenological Almanac : Illustrated with nu- 

merous Engravings — containing illustrated descriptions of character, - 6| 

Popular Phrenology, exhibiting the Phreno- 
logical Developments of more than fifty different Personages, 25 

Pow r er of Kindness ; Inculcating the Christian 

Principles of Love and Benevolence. An excellent work, 25 

Physiology, Animal and Mental : Applied to 

the Preservation and Restoration of Health of Body and Mind, 50 

Phrenology and the Scriptures, shewing their 

Harmruy. By Rev. John Pierpont, - 12£ 

Principles of the Human Mind. Biology ■ in- 

cludmg the Voltaic Mechanism of Man, 25 

Philosophy of Electrical Psychology. By 

John Bovee Dods, 50 

Philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse : an Ex- 
planation of Modern Mysteries. By Andrew Jackson Davis, 50 

Religion, Natural and Revealed ; or, the 

Natural Theology and Moral Bearings c f Phrenology, 50 

Self-Culture and Perfection of Cha/acter ; 

including the Management of Youth. Improved stereotyped edition, • 50 



FOWLERS AND WELLS'S PUBI CATIONS. 



Science of Swimming : Giving tlie History 

of Swimming, with special Instruction to Learners. Illustrated, - - 12$ 

Sober and Temperate life : With Notes and 

Illustrations by Comaro, who lived 1j4 years. Read this Book, - - 25 

Synopsis of Phrenology and Physiology : II- 

lustt Atiug the Temperaments. Designed for Phrenologists and others, - 12£ 

Temperance and Tight-Lacing : Founded on 

the Laws of Life as developed by Phrenology and Physiology, - - a9| 

Tobacco : Its Effect on the Body and Mind. 

The best work on the subject. Evoiy body should read it, 25 

The Use of Tobacco; Its Physical, Intellect- 
ual, and Moral Effects on the Human System, -...-- 12£ 

Teeth ; Their Structure, Disease, and Man- 
agement, with the Causes of Early Decay. Full of Engravings, - - 12£ 

Thoughts on Domestic Life. Its Concord 

and Discord, with Suggestions to both Sexes. By Nelson Sizer, - - 12| 

Tea and Coffee ; Their Physical, Intellectual, 

and Moral Effects on the Human System, 12£ 

The Parent's Guide, and Childbirth made 

Easy ; with Advice to Mothers. By Mrs. Pendleton, .... 50 

The Illustrated Self-Instructor in Phrenology 

and Physiology ; with One Hundred Engravings and a Chart, 25 

Vegetable Diet, as Sanctioned by Medical 

Glen, and Experience in all ages ; also a System of Vegetable Cookery, - 50 

Water-Cure Library; Embracing all of Im- 
portance on the Subject. In seven large l2mo volumes, - - • 5 00 

Water and Vegetable Diet in Scrofula, Can- 
cer, Asthma, and many other Diseases. By Dr. Lamb, 50 

Water-Cure Manual; A Popular Work on 

Hydropathy. With familiar Directions. Every family should have it, - 50 

Water-Cure Almanac, Containing much im- 
portant matter for all classes. Published yearly, fy 

Woman : Her Education and Influence. With 

a General Introduction, by Mrs. Kirkland. With thirteen Portraits, - 40 

Water-Cure Journal and Herald of Reforms. 

Devoted to Hydropathy and Medical Reform. Circulation 25,000. A year, 1 00 

Water-Cure for Women in Pregnancy and 

Childbirth. Illustrated with numerous cases. A good work, 25 

Water-Cure in Every Kno^vn Disease. By 

J. H. Rausse- Translated by C. H. Meeker, from the German, 50 

All Works on Phrenology, Physiology, Mag- 
netism, Physiognomy, Phonography, the Water-Cure, or Hyaropathy, 
may be obtained Df Fowlers and Wells, 13 L Nassau Street, New York. 



■ 






m>> 




003 808 687 A 



■ 






^H ^*i*t-j.'s-'£.ii'K4i!BWj 



■ 









■ 









A7,V,V. 



